Sometimes the best move is the one you don’t make.
That’s what Danilo Jovanovich believes to be the case, as on Wednesday, April 29 he announced his intention to return to the UW-Milwaukee Panthers for his senior season after initially entering the transfer portal at the start of the month.
It’s huge news for a UWM program that has added a number of high-profile transfers and high-school signees in recent weeks as well as for the 6-foot-8 Whitnall product, who was enjoying a breakout junior campaign before undergoing season-ending surgery on his right shoulder on Feb. 3.
“Staying with the coaching staff I already trust in, where I don’t have to re-learn a system,” Jovanovich said in explaining his decision to return. “They’ve been great to me for my two years prior to this one, and I’m not gonna lie – learning a new system in a year kind of sucks.
“So, being able to play to my strengths and being with a coaching staff that trusts me and that I trust is a big factor. And then coming off the shoulder injury, it gives me time to rehab at my pace and not have to rush anything and just get back in the best shape that I can be in.”
Jovanovich had been something of a basketball nomad since finishing up as runner-up for Wisconsin’s Mr. Basketball award in 2022, spending his first collegiate season at the University of Miami and his second at the University of Louisville before transferring to UWM and playing in 17 games in an injury plagued 2024-2025.
He was averaging 12.4 points on 59.5% shooting, 6.1 rebounds and 2.2 assists while playing just over 30 minutes a game but was forced to call it a season after the Panthers’ Jan. 9 game against Northern Kentucky due to recurrent pain in his shoulder.
Up to that point he’d become a player through whom coach Bart Lundy began running the offense in the post, due mostly to Jovanovich’s passing ability and good decision making.
“The shoulder got to the point where I just couldn’t do anything about it anymore. Just kind of had to shut it down,” Jovanovich said. “It happened a while ago. I just tried to play through it as much as I could, and it just got to a point where it’s just kind of done.
“Surgery on Feb. 3 and shut it down. I’m in a really good spot right now and I think I’m ahead of schedule a little bit, so very excited to get back to playing.”
Jovanovich said he’s targeting a return to playing sometime in the summer assuming no setbacks.
“It could be later,” he said. “I’ve just got to get with the coaching staff and everybody to kind of see what the best plan is, to try to keep me healthy throughout the year.”
Jovanovich said he initially entered the transfer portal to see what might be available to him with regard to NIL money before reassessing.
“I feel like just coming back home was the best thing possible,” he said. “With the coaching staff being here, my family’s around and they can come to games. Initially it was kind of about (money) because you know how everybody is about the portal – there’s just so much money being thrown around and there’s so much this and that.
“I just felt that I’d be more comfortable and in a better spot back here. I’ve been there, done that with other high majors. It’s kind of a crap shoot. You really don’t know what you’re going to get.”
After seeing his roster decimated by injuries in finishing 12-20 overall and 8-12 in the Horizon League after having been picked in the preseason to win the title, Lundy is understandably excited about bringing Jovanovich back.
“As a program, this elevates what we already believed to be the makings of a great team to one that can truly be special,” Lundy said. “He is one of the best players in the nation. For me personally, he is one of my all-time favorite players to coach and I felt our time together was cut short by the injuries and that DLo was just beginning to thrive and show the world the player he could be.
“I’m happy for him that he doesn’t have to make another change and be comfortable and perform for his final year. Sometimes, even in this crazy environment we find ourselves in today, things work out as they should. I believe this is what is best for our program and for DLo.”
The Panthers have already signed fellow in-state products Amare Hereford of Beloit Memorial and Aaron Womack of Dominican (transferred from Syracuse) along with two ex-Marquette players, Tre Norman and Al Amadou, with still more moves to come to round out what will be an almost completely rebuilt roster.
“I’m just here to win,” Jovanovich said. “We’ve got a lot of good players coming in, and if everybody does their job and handles business, I think we’ll be a really, really good team.
“My only expectation is making the (NCAA) Tournament. That’s the biggest thing. Winning this conference and making the tournament. I think last year we would have done it if all the tragic stuff didn’t happen. When we were healthy in conference we were 4-0 and rolling, and then injuries happened.
“But I do expect this team to make a Tournament run. I see us winning some games in the Tournament, and I just think that overall, we’re a very well-constructed roster. So I think this year’s gonna be really fun for everybody to watch and be very fun for us to play.”
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Danilo Jovanovich returning to a totally remade UWM Panthers team
Reporting by Todd Rosiak, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
