Player Spotlight: Cody Wichmann Talks UWM Basketball and Facing Adversity

He’s won a state championship. He can shoot a basketball with the best of them. And his lefty release is as pure as can be.

Meet Cody Wichmann, a hard-working, humble player who is lethal with the rock from behind the arc.

He can now add a NCAA Tournament appearance to his resume as he helped his team accomplish that last season. He was born a star in Pulaski and left as a legend. The legacy he left is the reason Milwaukee men’s basketball coach, Rob Jeter, recruited him so hard to play here.

A Pulaski native, Wichmann was able to bring his city joy by bringing Pulaski its first-ever state title in basketball. In fact, it was the first state championship in any sport for his school.  He was able to accomplish that and much more as he holds the team’s all-time scoring record with 1,372 point while also being named the Press-Gazette Media Boys Player of the Year and made the Division 2 First Team All-State selection by the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association as a senior.

“Cody brings to our program a high basketball IQ and an ability to shoot the basketball,” Jeter said. “This year we have asked him to play out of position and he has willingly accepted that role.  Cody is a player that will do whatever it takes to help the team.”

As a sophomore, Wichmann has been asked to step up as the team is battling injuries. The talented shooter is averaging 20.5 minutes a game to go along with 7.8 points per game and 2.2 rebounds.

Wichmann had great success in his first season as a Panther that included an experience of a life time when Milwaukee was able to clinch a berth into the NCAA Tournament. He was able to enjoy the moment and still stay focused as his team took the youngster under their wings.

“All the guys helped me,” Wichmann said. “Especially the seniors like Kyle Kelm and Roelke and Q and Malcom. They all showed me the ropes and just how hard you have to work to get where you want to be. What a great way to end it for them and a great way to start it for me and to try and get back there.”

Last year’s team resurrected the program from the dead and brought some Panther pride back to a program that needed it desperately, after they only won eight games the year before. The team was on cloud nine but that quickly came to an end as the NCAA banned them for this year’s NCAA Tournament.

The NCAA ban came after they failed to meet the NCAA standards for grades which are based off the Academic Progress Rate (APR). APR calculates whether the team’s players are in good academic standing.  The team failed to meet the minimum standard which is why they received the ban.

It’s a low point in the program’s history and disappointing for a team who had nothing to do with it. The ban was given out two years ago and was appealed. After they lost the appeal, the NCAA enforced the ban this year. Wichmann and his teammates now are trying to dig the program out of a hole they didn’t dig.

“It was a little bit of a let-down but knowing that we didn’t have anything to do with it is kind of the hardest part to swallow,” Wichmann said. “We don’t deserve this because our team wasn’t the team that did it. But in life you face adversity and you just have to push through it and work at your game.”

In a season that can’t result in a NCAA Tournament bid, Wichmann and his teammates are still able to find motivation from Jeter.

“He preaches that a lot of people expect for us to throw in the towel and that we are basically taking the year off. I think we’re going to prove people wrong and try and win the Horizon League Tournament because they can’t take that away from us.”

Wichmann has sworn to keep his head held high this year even with the bad news. Right now the team is 2-4 but he expects good things to come and remains confident.

“We have all the pieces we just have to put them together,” he said. “I mean we showed against Auburn that we can play with anybody. The pieces are there and I think we have a chance to be a really good team this year.”

Emotions have been at an all-time high but have also fallen below sea-level and hit rock-bottom in his first two seasons. Adversity has reared its ugly face in Milwaukee, but Wichmann is determined to take it head on.

His legacy in the Pulaski community will never be forgotten, but Wichmann wants to leave his own mark on Milwaukee too. A couple more NCAA berths should do it.

When fans fill Panther Arena this year, look for number five when he has the ball. He will probably be hovering around the three-point line and make a shot in basketball become as close to romantic as possible. The high-arcing shot cuts through the dry, humid air in Panther Arena, as it seems that the ball might never come down. The crowd is loud but the stadium seems to go quiet, as the beautifully rotating blob starts to come down and land gently in the basket.

“Swish.”

That man who shot that ball, well that’s Cody Wichmann.