After attending games at UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena as a youth and later being recruited by coach Bart Lundy, Aaron Womack III is finally going to get a chance to wear the black and gold.
The former 2,000-point scorer from Dominican High School has signed with UWM after spending a redshirt year at Syracuse, a move that will bring Womack back home and full circle beginning with the 2026-27 season.
"When I was in high school, UW-Milwaukee was the first to offer me," Womack said. "I had a relationship with Coach Lundy, Coach (Jose) Winston, and when I went on the visit when the portal opened, I had a good connection with the coaches over there.
"So, just the ability to come in and play, and just having a coach that I trust and the coach that believes in me. And the chance to come home."
Womack averaged 28.8 points, 11.1 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 2.3 steals, and 2.8 blocks per game as a senior at Dominican in the 2024-25 season en route to becoming the 60th player in Wisconsin high-school history to reach the 2,000-point mark for his career.
“We are very excited to add Aaron to our program,” Lundy said. “Aaron is a high-level player with an even higher level of character. He is a young man who we identified early in his career and offered almost four years ago. It has been fun to watch his development through high school and how he has continued that in his redshirt season at Syracuse. “There is no limit on where Aaron can go with his career. He adds a tremendous basketball IQ, as well as size and shooting to our roster. Aaron is an immediate impact player in the Horizon League.”
Womack will arrive on the East Side a much different player than he was when he departed for Syracuse thanks to a year spent in the weight room.
"Coach (Adrian Autry) gave me a choice if I wanted to redshirt or fight for minutes," recounted Womack. "I talked that over with my family, mostly my dad, and decided that redshirting would be the best decision for me.
"I think it was the best decision for me, because I ended up working on my body and getting stronger."
The 6-foot-6 Womack said he arrived at Syracuse last summer weighing 176 pounds and finished the season at 195 with the final goal being 200. There were plenty of chin-ups and bench presses along with many calories consumed along the way.
"A lot of lifting," Womack said. "A lot of just building my body and nutrition, and the recovery part as well. I got fed a lot, had a ton of big meals after practice every day, protein shakes. I think that's what's really helped. I think my game has changed, just by me being able to use my body.
"When I was in high school, I was kind of skinny. Didn't really use my body as well. Now my game has changed and I can take contact more than I could before."
Had Syracuse not finished 14-17 and missed the NCAA Tournament for the fifth straight season, UWM probably wouldn't be penciling Womack in as a major contributor on a team seeking to rebound from its nightmarish, injury-plagued 2025-26 campaign.
But Autry was ultimately fired after three seasons as Orange coach, and Womack entered the portal as a result.
"It was mostly Coach Autry being let go," he said. "If he would have stayed, I would have stayed as well. I would have loved to have stayed in Syracuse; I enjoyed my time here. But the new coach (Gerry McNamara) doesn't really know me and I don't really know him.
"Just didn't really have a connection there."
Womack visited UWM, UW-Green Bay and Pepperdine before ultimately putting pen to paper with the Panthers.
"My expectation is to come in and win," said Womack, who's already heard from another in-state product who's signed with the Panthers, Beloit Memorial guard Amare Hereford.
"Have a chance to do stuff that hasn't been done a long time. Most important thing is for me putting that Milwaukee jersey on, that Milwaukee across my chest, and just playing basketball, having fun, winning some games and making it to the NCAA Tournament."
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Ex-Dominican star Aaron Womack transfers to UWM from Syracuse