During the 2004-2005 College Basketball season the Wisconsin-Milwaukee Panthers made a historic run in the tournament that help set the tone for the so-called Mid-Majors for years to come. As a No.12 seed the Panthers clawed their way to a Sweet 16 birth, and fell short of defeating the Illinois Fighting Illini, who eventually played for the National Championship game three games later. During that run the Panthers were led by All-Everything Ed McCants and Joah Tucker. College Basketball fans were oblivious to what UWM brought to the table, but then head coach Bruce Pearl prepared his team all season for those moments. In McCants you had a star that had a great supporting cast. In that season McCants was named the Horizon Player of the Year as well as being named to the All-Horizon and Honorable Mention All-American. Let’s take a trip down memory lane to see what the former UWM star remembers most about the Panthers historic run.
RH: What was your greatest memory of your historic NCAA Tournament run?
EM: ” My greatest experience of the tournament was the sense of belonging and confidence my team had learned during the year. To believe in ourselves and our work we had put in when nobody was watching. We would hear the world saying no, when we knew in our hearts yes! It was the feeling walking into the hotels, the gyms, reading the papers and magazines knowing that the individuals standing next to you had no doubt we could achieve great things. I still believe whole heartedly with all the talent Illinois had that year, we still had the talent & teamwork to pull of yet another upset, it was probably that last moment of the game I was thinking we could have beat these guys that loss and the belief we had was my greatest memory!”
