Two themes came through strong when Patrick Baldwin met the media for the first time Thursday as head coach of the UWM men’s basketball team: hard work and character.
Baldwin, coming off four years as an assistant coach at Northwestern, pledged that he would put in the work necessary to achieve success.
“Milwaukee, this city is a foundation built around hard-working people,” Baldwin said. “I want everybody to understand that and that’s who I am. I work extremely hard, and Milwaukee is me. I will bring that aggressiveness and that determination and that desire to win. That’s one of the reasons why I want to be here.”
UWM athletic director Amanda Braun called character key.
“It was our goal to find someone with tremendous character, who would honor the commitment of our student athletes here at Milwaukee,” Braun said. “We were looking for a proven winner with experience developing student athletes both on and off the court.”
Chancellor Mark Mone said he was impressed with Baldwin’s focus on the success of student athletes off the court.
“The first question that Pat asked was how do you provide support for students that are going to be great on the field but may need some additional support or may need some development and work on the academic side,” Mone said. “But to care and have that concern as the first thing you asked about, that said a lot to me.”
Baldwin starred for Northwestern as a player from 1990 to 1994 before playing overseas for two years and then starting a coaching career. Northwestern coach Chris Collins brought Baldwin to his alma mater as an assistant four years ago. Together, they helped build the moribund program into a success, culminating in the school’s first appearance in the NCAA Tournament last year.
