Panthers’ Stull continues to roll with the coaches
If Brock Stull has learned anything during his tenure at UW-Milwaukee, it’s been how to roll with the punches.
The Rockford, Ill. native arrived on campus in 2014 as a recruit of coach Rob Jeter, sat out as a freshman and then played sparingly the following year before
Jeter was fired.
Last season, Stull blossomed under Jeter’s replacement, LaVall Jordan, as a fulltime starter before Jordan unexpectedly bolted for his alma mater, Butler University, early this past June.
Now the redshirt junior finds himself playing for former Northwestern assistant Pat Baldwin, trying to acclimate to a third new system and staff in three years while trying to build on his breakout 2016-’17 campaign.
“Honestly, it’s been a bit of a shock,” Stull said, referring to all the changes at UWM.
“Obviously when you commit to a guy, you think long-term. Then when LaVall came in, same thing. But then one year and he’s out. So that was a little strange. Then Coach Baldwin comes in.
“All three of them bring a little something different to the table, but I can’t complain about the position I’m in right now. I’ve just got to keep my head straight.”
Stull spent 2014-’15 working on getting stronger and acclimating himself to the Division I level as many freshmen do, then slowly worked his way into Jeter’s rotation as a swing guard in 2015-’16. He averaged 2.6 points and 1.7 rebounds while playing just over 9 minutes per game.
Last season, Stull’s role increased markedly out of necessity after the Panthers’ top three returning scorers transferred out of the program in the wake of Jeter’s dismissal. In the starting lineup from Game 1 for Jordan, the 6-foot-4, 195-pounder took full advan-
tage of his opportunity.
When all was said and done, Stull earned team most valuable player honors for averaging a stat-stuffer line that any rotisserie basketball player seeks. In 35 games, he led the team in scoring at 13.5 points and rebounding at 6.5 while finishing second in assists with 2.9 and three-pointers with 57.
Stull also shot a respectable 44.4% and put up an impressive 39.3% from three-point range and 80.7% from the free-throw line.
UWM’s run in the Horizon League Tournament, in which it won its first three games and fell just short of advancing to the NCAA Tournament despite its No. 10 seeding, got a major boost from Stull as well.
He put up double-doubles in two of the Panthers’ first three games and then scored a team-high 19 in a championship-game loss to Northern Kentucky.
“I think it was just getting confidence early,” Stull said of developing into UWM’s go-to player. “I knew if I wanted to play I’d have to push hard in practice and as the season rolled around I was just kind of doing whatever I could do.
“My rebounds increased and I just tried being the best player I could to stay on the court.”
While the Panthers certainly appreciated his production and versatility, the rest of the Horizon League apparently wasn’t impressed as Stull failed to earn even second-team recognition in the preseason. UWM’s predicted eighth-place finish surely had something to do with that, but Stull hasn’t spent much time worrying about falling short with individual honors.
“I didn’t even check,” Stull said. “People let me know I wasn’t on it. Nothing’s given to you; you’ve just got to kind of go out and take it. Like last year, I kind of made the jump from freshman to sophomore and I’d like to take that jump one step further so I can be on it (in the postseason).”
One person who isn’t sleeping on Stull’s talents is Baldwin, in his first head-coaching role.
“When I first got here I knew that he was our leading scorer and did a lot of great things for the program, and when I talked to him I had great expectations for him and what he can achieve,” Baldwin said. “So every single day I’m pushing him and trying to help him become the best player he can possibly be.
“He was at 13 a game last year from a points standpoint, and I think that can go up. The way he can do that is by getting to the line a little bit more and maybe playing different positions and moving around on the floor a little bit more.
“I see great things for him.”
As for the rest of the Panthers, a lack of overall depth and size will again figure to be an issue. The addition of 6-8 junior-college transfer Vance Johnson and 6-5 freshman wing Carson Warren-Newsome should help up front, where Brett Prahl and Bryce Nze will do much of the heavy lifting.
In the backcourt, it appears Bryce Barnes and August Haas will split the point-guard duties while Jeremy Johnson and Jeremiah Bell will seek to provide some scoring punch.
“I think that we have a good team and that we’re really going to surprise some people,” said Baldwin. “I don’t know that there’s great expectations for us outside of what we have in our locker room. And to be honest with you, that doesn’t matter.
“For us, the most important thing is that we have the understanding of who we are and what we want to be going into the season.”