Junior forward Austin Arians is one of three UWM players who requested his release from the team following the firing of coach Rob Jeter. Credit: Dave Kallmann

SHARE Amanda Braun UWM guard Akeem Springs (right) is going to be a senior and would be the Panthers’ leading returning scorer and rebounder if he comes back for the 2016-’17 season. Rick Wood

By of the

As UW-Milwaukee searches for a new men's basketball coach, players on the team are considering their options.

Akeem Springs, Jordan Johnson and Austin Arians have requested and received their releases, freeing them to talk to other schools about potentially transferring.

Losing any or all of the players would be a big blow to a program that has been reeling for the past couple of weeks after athletic director Amanda Braun announced she would not allow the team to play in one of two possible postseason tournaments and then fired coach Rob Jeter.

All three players will be entering their senior year in the 2016-'17 season. Springs would be the Panthers' leading returning scorer and rebounder, Johnson the second-leading returning scorer and top assist man, and Arians the third-leading returning scorer and top three-point shooter.

"I haven't made up my mind on that at all," Arians said Wednesday when asked whether he would indeed leave UWM.

"But obviously I'm taking calls from other schools that are appealing to me. I don't know what's going to happen, but I'm not 100% sure on anything at this point.

"I'm just keeping my options open."

Springs said he and Johnson — also his former teammate at Waukegan (Ill.) High School — are taking a similar approach.

"We're in the same boat as Austin," he said. "We're in communication — all the players who have the possibility to leave, as well as the whole team. But we're all just figuring out if we're going to stick together.

"This is our last time and we're figuring it out if we're going to stick it out. We're a tight group, and I think people are starting to see that."

The players asked for their releases Monday, the same day the team had a 45-minute meeting with Braun.

Braun granted the requests Tuesday. The releases came with the condition the players can't transfer to any other Horizon League school or Marquette. It is considered standard practice for schools to place conditions on transfers.

"Who knows, maybe they're in talks to play next year," said Arians, a Madison native, of the Marquette restriction. UWM hasn't played MU since the 2010 season. "That one kind of shocked me a little bit."

Arians said Braun indicated players who want to leave the program would first need to meet with the new coach. Braun said last week after firing Jeter that she was starting an immediate national search for a replacement.

"That's the way she wants it to happen," he said. "Don't get me wrong — nothing against the new coach, but I came here to play for Coach Jeter."

Through a spokesman, Braun declined to comment Wednesday.

Arians, a finance major, is in line to graduate after the spring semester. Springs, a mass communications major, is on track to graduate after taking summer courses. That would free both to play next season at another school without redshirting as graduate students.

"Right now I'm taking my time with everything," Springs said. "I do want to meet the coach and I think that's going to be big for me, Austin and Jordan and whoever else decides to weigh their options and see what else is out there. I think we all want to meet the coach and we want to give him a chance because we all want to be in Milwaukee.

"This is where we decided to come. Of course, there were different circumstances with Coach (Jeter) and the staff, but we still love Milwaukee. We do want to give whoever comes in a chance.

"We still have to graduate and we do still have to finish classes so there's no rush to do anything on my part."

Another player, junior Cody Wichmann, is on course to graduate in three years with a degree in accounting. He hasn't requested his release yet as he weighs his options.

"The ideal case is I fall in love with the coach, people decide to stay and I stay a Panther because that's where my heart is and that's where I want to be," he said. "But if things don't work out I guess I have the option, which is nice."

The players also described the meeting Monday with Braun.

"She walked in and obviously we were all upset still," Arians said. "We let her know we had questions that we wanted answered. So I'd say we took about 45 minutes talking about the questions on what had happened in the past. We just didn't feel like they were really answered.

"She gave us the generic answers that we've heard since Coach Jeter was fired in news statements and what not. We were all pretty upset because our questions still weren't getting answered and that was our time we felt like they might, it just being us and her."

Said Wichmann: "The big question I wanted answered is why should we stay? The coaches were such a big part of why we came here and for that to be taken away from us, it's pretty big."

"I got an answer. It was (vague) — 'We're going to continue to invest in our program....'"

Added Springs: "There was definitely tension in the room. We were still unsure when we left the meeting."

Springs re-emphasized that he and others want to remain at UWM. New coach aside, what would he like to see to happen?

"I'm coming to the understanding and the realization that I don't necessarily have to trust or like my athletic director, and she doesn't have to like me or the team," he said. "But we just want all the resources (that are available), especially when they're firing people for not meeting expectations."