Dittmer’s Unusual Path to Division 1 Basketball

After about two weeks of not hearing anything back after a tryout in hopes of walking onto UWM’s basketball team, Seth Dittmer thought the chances might be slim he was going to get another look. However, Dittmer eventually got an email back, asking him to come play with the team at an open gym.

“It was after I got that email that I started to realize how realistic playing for UWM was becoming,” Dittmer said.

Shortly after Dittmer received the email, he was officially playing Division 1 basketball and made the team as a preseason walk-on. Dittmer said as the try out got closer, he realized that he didn’t want to stop playing competitive basketball, which he ended up using as motivation.

What makes the 6-9 Sophomore’s walk-on story even more unique than usual, is that he was previously home-schooled nearby in Pewaukee, before he enrolled at the University last year. (Update: Dittmer has now transferred to the Yellow Jackets.)

Dittmer played high school basketball for the Southeast Wisconsin Christian Homeschool Athletics (SWCHA). He averaged 13 points, 9.9 rebounds and 5 blocks in his final season with the Saints and was a two-time Homeschool State All-Tournament Team and MVP in his final season.

“The transition was a lot harder than I had expected at first,” Dittmer said about the transition from SWCHA to Division 1. “When I was playing homeschool ball I never realized how much slower of a pace it was. Then when I got to UWM, it was so much faster and more physical. It was a shock, but I got over it gradually throughout the season.”

Dittmer’s path to division one college basketball is unique, and you may not find many student athletes in division one sports like Dittmer that were homeschooled in high school. Although, he is not alone. Notable famous athletes that were homeschooled at one point in time according to  https://www.ranker.com/list/athletes-who-were-homeschooled/people-in-sports include, Tim Tebow, Serena Williams and Venus Williams, Blake Griffin, Michael Beasley, and Maria Sharapova.

Dittmer said one of the biggest adjustments from a school perspective from being homeschooled to UWM was getting use to going to classes and lectures on a regular basis.

Seth’s mom Marie Dittmer said she first realized Seth had the talent and potential to play college basketball in high school.

“There’s an old wives tale that your half your height when your two years old,” Marie Dittmer said. “When Seth was two years old we figured that he was going to be 6 foot 7.”

Dittmer ultimately choose UWM because he really liked the campus, and it’s close to home, just a thirty-minute drive he said.

“I liked the JAMS major, especially the way that it allows students to have a certain focus within the major,” Dittmer said.

Like every student athlete, balancing school and athletics can be difficult at times.

“Balancing the two is definitely tough for anyone,” Dittmer said. “Even if you have a 4.0 GPA before the season it doesn’t guarantee that you’re going to be able to keep that through the semester. Me personally, I had to balance work, school, and basketball, all while commuting from home, which is a half hour away. As an athlete, we’re expected to put in extra work outside of 20 hours of practice and lifting, and as a student, we’re expected to study, do homework, and go to class. Put working 10ish hours a week on top of that and you have a hectic schedule.”

Last year in Dittmer’s first year with UWM, the Panthers fell one game short of almost completing a historic Horizon League Tournament run. After all, the Panthers were the first ever 10 seed in the Horizon League Tournament to even win a game, much less get to the championship game. Milwaukee ended up falling one game short of making college basketball history in 2017 to Northern Kentucky.

First year head coach then LaVall Jordan, led a 23 loss Panther team all the way to the Horizon League Tournament Championship game. However, after the season, Jordan decided to leave UWM and pursue the head coaching job at Butler University as the head coach in 2017, where he played college basketball.

Patrick Baldwin the former Northwestern assistant, took over for Jordan in the 2017-18 season. In his first season as head coach, Baldwin led the Panthers to a 16 and 17 season, falling one game short of getting back to the Horizon League Championship.

“My favorite memory is hands down making the run to the conference championship as a 10 seed my first year,” Dittmer said.