Tuck’s Take: Wicks Likes His Humble Pie Served With a Scoop of Reality

LARAMIE -- You can call it a nice, thick slice of humble pie.

Sundance Wicks did.

Wyoming's flamboyant head coach, wearing the lime green jacket to match, sat on the bench Wednesday night inside a raucous Spectrum in Logan, shoulder to shoulder with his assistants, appearing to stare off into space.

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The Gillette product rarely, if ever, sits during a game. He's typically in someone's ear -- a nearby official and especially his players -- his voice often horse during postgame press conferences.

Not on this night.

"See you at the Border War."

Wicks repeated that phrase three times during his brief chat with Learfield, following a 94-62 throttling at the hands of conference heavyweight Utah State.

In fact, that's all he said before laying down his headset and returning to the visiting locker room.

What was he thinking about as that lead got more lopsided? Was it simply frustration turning to apathy as the Aggies continued their collective assault on his 2-3 zone defense, drilling 13 triples in the process? Maybe it had more to do with the fact 10,000-plus fans filled the arena, a far cry from any crowd his Cowboys get inside the Arena-Auditorium.

It also could've been the "price gap" between these programs.

Utah State, despite having four different head coaches over the previous five seasons, is still atop the Mountain West standings and has danced in March four times in that timeframe, including making three straight appearances.

Key pieces are staying out, too.

Mason Falslev, for instance, likely could've followed Ryan Odom to VCU and be currently playing at Virginia. Surely Danny Sprinkle would've taken him to Washington, right?

The junior still resides in Cache County and has averaged double figures against the Cowboys in five outings.

The Aggies are officially headed to the reimagined Pac-12, beginning July 1. This basketball program belongs in a league of that caliber.

So, what ultimately was on Wicks' mind?

The short answer: all of the above.

Until Wednesday night, though -- kind of like sitting down on the job -- his responses are rarely concise.

"There's a little bit of all of that there," Wicks confirmed Thursday afternoon in a near 20-minute press conference. "That's probably the last time we're playing in Logan, so I sat back and enjoyed The Hurd (Utah State's student section). And, for the first time in my life, I saw a student section cheer for an opposing player to score his first points.

"... That's different."

That collective mocking was aimed at guard Uriyah Rojas, who until the 1:28 mark of the second half, was held off the scoresheet. He attempted nine shots prior to that and-1 opportunity with the Cowboys trailing by 36.

It was that kind of night.

How will Wyoming ever reach this level of consistency? Is it even possible in the current landscape of college athletics? Wicks likes to call this a "microwave" society where the proper steps are no longer taken to reach an ultimate goal.

More troubling, he referred to sustained success as a "foreign concept."

He isn't wrong, either.

When answering this "loaded" question, Wicks touched on the obvious reasons: recruiting, retaining, coaching and resources. The latter, arguably the most important. If there are tax brackets in this league when it comes to Name, Image and Likeness funds, the Cowboys are right near the bottom, hanging with the likes of San Jose State and Air Force (the Falcons don't have NIL opportunities).

Wicks, like his predecessor Jeff Linder, thought Fresno State was in that group, too. They aren't, the 45-year-old stated after a 63-60 setback earlier this month inside the Save Mart Center.

"You have to have all of it," Wicks continued. "And I think that's what makes places and programs special, is that they invest in their coaches, they invest in the retention of their players, they invest in the resources to help with retention of their players, they invest in their facilities. There's a lot of investment that has to go on with everybody involved, and to that point, that also means there's got to be investment in the relationships, because if you don't have some of the latter, then your relationships got to be pretty good, and you're hoping that your relationship, beyond a shadow of doubt, will be the one thing that keeps your players coming back.

"And, nowadays, as we know, that as good as your relationships can be, it's not quite matching on a certain level."

For now, his focus is on the team down south and earning his first ever win as a head coach against the Cowboys' most-loathed nemesis.

How much does Wicks want to beat Colorado State this Saturday night?

That question brought out that trademark smile of his. In fact, he called over his 6-year-old daughter Gracie to hammer that point home.

"I said, you know who we're playing this weekend, Grace? We're playing the Rams," he said, before motioning to her, asking what her response was.

"boo."

"And you also said ..."

"I said, 'It sucks to be a CSU Ram."

Games like this, one can hope, you can put the money woes aside for just one night and focus on the hate -- and getting in the win column.

Tipoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. inside the Arena-Auditorium.