Sundance Wicks Era is Underway in Laramie

* University of Wyoming press release

LARAMIE -- A new era of Cowboy basketball officially began on Wednesday afternoon in the Arena-Auditorium with the first practice of the Sundance Wicks era. Wyoming will host College of Idaho a month from Wednesday in an exhibition contest inside the Arena-Auditorium.

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Notes on the Pokes

- Head Coach Sundance Wicks is in his first season as head coach of the Cowboys. A native of Wyoming, Wicks is the 23rd coach in school history. He spent three seasons as an assistant at UW leading Wyoming to the NCAA tournament in 2022.

- In his only season at Green Bay, Wicks was named the 2023-24 Horizon League Coach of the Year. He was also named the Joe B. Hall National Coach of the Year, which is presented annually to the top rookie, first-year head coach in NCAA Division I college basketball. Green Bay improved in the win column by 15 games for the ninth most in NCAA History.

- Wyoming welcomes back four-letterwinners and a redshirt from last season’s team and welcome nine transfers along with two incoming freshmen.

- Kobe Newton is the leading returning scorer for the Pokes at 4.5 points per game. He shot 49 percent from behind the arc for the season in 20 games. He missed time with an injury.

- Oleg Kojenets grabbed 2.5 rebounds per game last season, as he is Wyoming’s top returning rebounder.

- Touko Tainamo was an All-Summit League selection at Denver last season with 15.2 points per game and 7.7 rebounds.

- Obi Agbim added 15.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.9 assists. He was an All-RMAC player and All-Region selection at Fort Lewis College.

- Jordan Nesbitt comes to UW from Hampton University. He has over 1,000 career points with 500 career rebounds and 250 assists.

- Dontaie Allen recorded 56 three-pointers last season at Western Kentucky. 2024 Schedule

The 30-game slate features 20 Mountain West Conference contests along with 10 non-conference games with five of those contests being played inside the Arena-Auditorium.

Mountain West national television partners CBS Sports and FOX Sports are now in a selection procedure, which will include the shifting of games from their current dates. Additional announcements on television selections will be made soon along with game times.

Season tickets are currently available for Cowboy Basketball. Fans may order tickets online, via email or by phone at:
• Go to GoWyo.com/tickets
• Email tickets@uwyo.edu
• Call (307) 766-7220
• Stop by the UW Athletics Ticket Office on the West Side of the Arena-Auditorium on the corner of Willett Drive and 19th Street.

The Pokes will host College of Idaho in an exhibition contest on Oct. 25. Wyoming will officially open the season against Concordia-St. Paul on Nov. 4. UW will then host Tennessee State on Nov. 11. The Cowboys will battle Utah Tech (Nov. 16), Southeastern Louisiana (Nov. 22) and Bellarmine (Dec. 19) to round out non-conference home contests.

Wyoming will play a non-conference road game at Texas Tech on Nov. 13. Wyoming will close out non-conference play at Cal State Fullerton on Dec. 22.

UW will play in the Cancun Challenge on Nov. 26 opening against Tulane then will either battle Loyola-Marymount or Belmont the following day. Wyoming will also face BYU in a neutral site game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, on Dec. 14.

The 20-game MW slate starts on Dec. 4 with a trip to Utah State. Wyoming will open the home portion of the conference schedule against Nevada on Dec. 28 and Boise State on New Year’s Eve. Other conference home games include New Mexico on Jan. 7 and the Border War against Colorado State on Jan. 18.

The Pokes will host Fresno State on Jan. 28, Utah State on Feb. 4 and UNLV on Feb. 8. UW will welcome Air Force on Feb. 18 and San Jose State on Feb. 22. UW will close the conference home schedule against San Diego State on March 1.

Wyoming will play Front Range foe Air Force on the road on Jan. 4 and make a trip to Boise State on Jan. 14. UW will head to UNLV on Jan. 21 and San Jose State on Jan. 25. A trip to San Diego State is set for Feb. 1 and back-to-back road games at New Mexico (Feb. 11) and Colorado State (Feb. 15). UW will close the road schedule at Nevada on Feb. 25 and at Fresno to close the regular season on March 4.