Patrick Baldwin Jr. brings superstar potential to UW-Milwaukee
MILWAUKEE, Wis — Over the years, the Badger State has produced numerous highly touted basketball prospects on a national scale.
Tyler Herro was flat-out dominant at Kentucky, Tyrese Haliburton was a lottery pick out of Iowa State, Jordan Poole has carved out a nice role for himself on a championship caliber Golden State Warriors squad, and Jalen Johnson was a top-15 player in the country on the ESPN Top 100 for the 2020 class.
Most of Wisconsin’s high profile hoopers, however, haven’t stayed local and instead have gone on to play for the nation’s prestigious “blue blood” programs. Those that do stay tend to attend the University of Wisconsin-Madison for some quality Big Ten action, as the Badgers’ are Wisconsin’s staple Division I program across the board.
For the first time in the state’s history, one of the country’s most prized and highly regarded recruits will stay local to Milwaukee and don the Panthers black and gold uniform.
Meet Patrick Baldwin Jr., a top five incoming freshman across the board with five star pedigree, NBA tools, and just about every single prestigious offer you could possibly imagine. Hailing from Sussex Hamilton, Baldwin Jr. is the highest nationally ranked prospect from Wisconsin in recent memory, finishing his high school career at number five overall on the ESPN Top 100.
Baldwin Jr. is as decorated of a prospect as they come. He was a McDonald’s All-American, was at one point the number one player in the entire country on several different credited rankings websites, was on pace to score 2,000 career high school points before a season-ending ankle injury, and also earned Wisconsin Gatorade Player of the Year honors.
Still, instead of traveling south to Lexington to play for John Calipari or moving out to the east coast for a Duke Blue Devils jersey, Baldwin Jr. elected to stay local and play for his hometown Milwaukee Panthers.
And a huge reason for that is because of his dad.
Patrick Baldwin Sr. was a standout basketball player for the Northwestern Wildcats in the early ‘90s that was named head coach of Milwaukee’s hoops program in 2017. Since his arrival, the Panthers have yet to have a winning season in both regular action and conference play.
All of that is set to change this year with the arrival of his standout son, who is more than capable of elevating this team from a middle-of-the-pack program to a conference championship contender in just one season.
Baldwin Jr. brings something the Panthers have never had – a true superstar national talent that’s virtually a lock to be a lottery pick in next year’s NBA Draft. With the college basketball season just around the corner, all eyes will be on Milwaukee’s latest basketball star.
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