Head coach Bart Lundy has announced a series of promotions within the Milwaukee men’s basketball staff. The changes include Jake Williams being elevated to Associate Head Coach/Recruiting Coordinator, Ben Walker to Associate Head Coach, Jose Winston to Associate Coach, Mike Winans assuming the role of Assistant Coach/General Manager, and Michael Cooper serving as Assistant Coach/Director of Player Development.
All five members have been with the program since Lundy’s arrival in March 2022 and have contributed significantly to its recent success. Under their guidance, the team achieved back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time since 2004-05 and 2005-06.
“As the first staff in school history to begin their tenure with back-to-back 20-win seasons, I would like to thank Jake, Ben, Jose, Mike, and Michael for their hard work and dedication,” said Lundy. “The consistency and continuity of our staff lead to winning. Even these promotions do not fully express our gratitude for their work and sacrifice. We have the best staff in the country in my opinion.”
In their first season together, Milwaukee’s men’s basketball team recorded its first 20-win season in seven years and made its first postseason appearance in nine years. They also secured a postseason victory for the first time in 17 years by defeating Stetson in the CBI’s opening round.
“We would like to announce the promotion of Jake Williams to Associate Head Coach/Recruiting Coordinator,” Lundy stated. “Jake’s hard work and dedication have led to recruiting all-league players, great practices, and excellent opponent scouting.”
Lundy continued by announcing Ben Walker’s promotion: “Ben has been an integral part of our success. He is a terrific role model for our guys and brings a positive outlook and attitude to all we do in the program.”
The team set several records during their initial year under Lundy’s leadership. These included new highs in total points (2,659), blocks (186), field goals made (944), field goals attempted (2,062), total rebounds (1,330), rebound average (39.1), while leading the Horizon League with a .408 field-goal defense.
“Next is the promotion of Jose Winston to Associate Coach,” said Lundy. “Jose has had many experiences in basketball as a career but this was his first collegiate coaching job.”
During this past season, Milwaukee again excelled by nearly securing an NCAA Tournament spot after falling just one game short in the championship match.
“We would like to announce the promotion of Mike Winans to Assistant Coach/General Manager,” said Lundy. “On a day-to-day basis, I am not sure what I would personally do without Mike.”
Despite injuries throughout last winter’s campaign resulting in a 20-15 overall record—the team’s 12th such season—Milwaukee managed six victories from double-digit deficits.
“We would also like to announce Michael Cooper’s promotion,” added Lundy about his move from Queens University along with him: “Michael is invaluable with his corporate knowledge… He does tremendous thinking outside-the-box on ways keeping us cutting-edge.”
This past season saw more record-setting performances including new marks across multiple categories such as total points (2;782) among others plus achieving highest scoring average since1992-93 at79-point-five per game.
