Whitnall High School alumnus Tyler Herro is coming home under wild circumstances, now an NBA all-star who’s been traded from the Miami Heat to his hometown Milwaukee Bucks.
From a high-profile decision to not attend the University of Wisconsin to eye-popping numbers to missing out on Mr. Basketball, here’s a look at Herro’s connection to the Milwaukee area and Wisconsin:
Where is Whitnall High School?
Whitnall is in Greenfield, but primarily serves Hales Corners. It’s named after former Milwaukee city treasurer Charles Whitnall and is located in the southwestern portion of Milwaukee County. Herro starred for the basketball team from 2014 through 2018.
How did Tyler Herro do in high school?
He ruled. As a senior, he averaged 32.9 points per game and 7.8 rebounds, plus 3.8 assists. He reached 2,000 career points despite missing half of his junior season with injuries. His jersey was retired by the school in 2023, and numerous Heat teammates – including Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo – joined him at the celebration.
Did Tyler Herro win Mr. Basketball in Wisconsin?
Hoo buddy, that’s a story. He didn’t, and neither did fellow NBA standout Tyrese Haliburton of Oshkosh North, who happened to be playing in the same class.
Instead, that award went to Jordan McCabe of Kaukauna, who in fairness was sensational, won two state titles and earned a Division I scholarship to West Virginia (which was very good McCabe’s senior year).
Why didn’t Tyler Herro wind up playing at the University of Wisconsin?
That’s yet another story.
Herro did commit to the Badgers in September 2016 and reassured Badgers coaches he was keeping his commitment, but in October 2017, Kentucky came calling. Herro backed out, committed to John Calipari and Badgers fans weren’t happy about it. Herro heard booing at most of his games during his senior year.
With scholarship availability limited, the Badgers didn’t heavily recruit Haliburton, believing they had Herro locked in. It’s easy to theorize that the Badgers had a much better chance of landing Haliburton otherwise. Instead, he developed into a lottery pick at Iowa State.
For Herro, Kentucky obviously proved to be the correct choice. He spent only one season there and developed into a lottery pick himself, then found pretty immediate success in the pro game.
In a relatively civil exchange with ex-Badgers player Zak Showalter in 2020, Herro noted that he’d “still be at Wisconsin” if he had kept his commitment, nodding to what he considered a too-methodical style of play.
Did Tyler Herro’s teams win any state titles?
No, he only made one trip to state in 2016 as a sophomore, when his team fell to Waunakee in the Division 2 semifinal, 62-59 (and McCabe’s Kaukauna team defeated Waunakee for the title). Herro scored 20 points in the loss.
After an injury-shortened junior season, Whitnall met Pewaukee in an epic sectional semifinal in his senior year, in 2018.
Herro’s final high-school game was wild, and another name you know played in the game
Played in sold-out New Berlin West (relocated there because of intense ticket demand), Pewaukee survived, 60-59, getting a late basket from big man Grant Basile, who had suffered a bad ankle injury late in the game and was gutting through it.
Basile, who played Division I basketball at Wright State and Virginia Tech before playing overseas, finished with 29 points and 23 rebounds. Herro posted 24 points and 16 rebounds in a game that lived up to the hype.
One of Pewaukee’s other top scorers happened to be Jack Gohlke, who later rose to prominence with Oakland University in the NCAA Tournament, when he caught fire from three-point range to help take down Herro’s alma mater, Kentucky, in the first round.
Pewaukee, though, didn’t make it to state, falling one step short to Milwaukee Washington with Basile sidelined by the injury. Washington wound up falling to McCabe and Kaukauna in the state final.
Tyler Herro has been a thorn in the Bucks’ side
Herro has scored 20.9 points per game against the Bucks with 5.6 rebounds and 5.0 assists in his 18 career games against Milwaukee.
Injury limited him to just one game in 2023 when the eighth-seeded Heat shocked the Bucks in the opening round of the playoffs, but he did score double figures over five games in the Orlando “bubble” when the Heat upset the Bucks in 2020.
Herro scored 40 points, one shy of a career high, against the Bucks on Feb. 23, 2025, though the Bucks won the game.
What has Tyler Herro said about returning home?
He’s posted “414” on X, which is of course the area code of Milwaukee County.
What is Tyler Herro’s contract?
Herro is entering the final year of a four-year, $120 million rookie extension and should make about $33 million in 2026-27.
An old video began recirculating after the trade in which Herro explained the ways he managed to spend $600,000 during the first five months of his rookie season.
Tyler Herro breaks down how he spent $600,000 during the first 5 months of his NBA rookie season
• Gucci purse for mom — $5,000
• S63 AMG Mercedes — $200,000
• 4 door Jeep Wrangler — $60,000
• Clothing — $85,000
• Rent — $60,000
• Private chef — $20,000
• Porsche for mom… pic.twitter.com/nRQVhKOmXi— dank (@cptdankkk) June 23, 2026
Is Tyler Herro the best NBA player ever from a Wisconsin high school?
He’s on the short list, although Haliburton arguably has the better case for the moment.
Along with Jalen Johnson in 2026, Wisconsin has seen a bumper crop of top-flight success in the NBA.
The cadre of Wisconsin all-star players had been limited to a handful of names before the current generation, guys like Devin Harris, Latrell Sprewell, John Johnson, Nick Van Exel and Terry Porter.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: A look at new Bucks player Tyler Herro’s career in Wisconsin
About the Author
