Post by CreamCity on Mar 28, 2005 17:55:18 GMT -6
Bruce Pearl has done an outstanding job as head coach for UW-Milwaukee. Under his leadership our basketball program has developed into one of the finest in the country. Over the past few days I have worked closely with our athletic director, Bud Haidet, and supporters of our basketball program in putting together a highly competitive compensation package which we had hoped would help persuade Bruce to remain here. While we were not able to retain Bruce, we are now positioned to aggressively recruit a new coach from among the top candidates in the country. We believe the UWM coaching job will be very attractive. As both Bruce Pearl and Bo Ryan before him discovered, UWM offers tremendous opportunities.
While we will miss Bruce, we understand his desire to take on new challenges and we wish him continued success as he begins this new chapter in his life.
In the coming days, I will work closely with our athletic director to hire a new coach who can help take our program to an even higher level. This year's team has given us memories that will last a lifetime. They never stopped trying and never gave up, even when the odds were against them. We owe it to our players to provide them with the leadership and support that will help them to continue to succeed on both the basketball court and in the classroom. We also owe it to our fans who helped make these past three weeks some of the most memorable times this campus has ever experienced. Without the incredible support of our fans we would not have had that "sixth" player that made the difference in so many of our games. I want to assure our fans and the community that we are committed to continue to build upon the great success of our basketball program. Now that we know what it's like to have been to basketball's "promised land", there is no turning back. I promise that we will make the necessary investments that will keep people around the country talking about UWM basketball, just as they talk about the great academic opportunities we provide to the people of Wisconsin.
While we will miss Bruce, we understand his desire to take on new challenges and we wish him continued success as he begins this new chapter in his life.
In the coming days, I will work closely with our athletic director to hire a new coach who can help take our program to an even higher level. This year's team has given us memories that will last a lifetime. They never stopped trying and never gave up, even when the odds were against them. We owe it to our players to provide them with the leadership and support that will help them to continue to succeed on both the basketball court and in the classroom. We also owe it to our fans who helped make these past three weeks some of the most memorable times this campus has ever experienced. Without the incredible support of our fans we would not have had that "sixth" player that made the difference in so many of our games. I want to assure our fans and the community that we are committed to continue to build upon the great success of our basketball program. Now that we know what it's like to have been to basketball's "promised land", there is no turning back. I promise that we will make the necessary investments that will keep people around the country talking about UWM basketball, just as they talk about the great academic opportunities we provide to the people of Wisconsin.
