Tuck’s Take: Wicks Making Wyoming Basketball Fun Again

LARAMIE --  Alley-oops? Fast-break dunks? Driving the lane and creating wide-open looks from beyond the arc?

Sundance Wicks, what have you done with this boring version of Cowboy basketball?

It all looks, well, right.

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Wyoming's second-year head coach this offseason actually had time to shop for the groceries. That's already apparent. The recruiting focus: speed, athleticism, high-compete level and, of course, character.

That's obvious, too.

The days of draining shot clock, chucking up prayers and passing on opportunities to pounce are over.

"RP40" -- relentless pressure for 40 minutes -- is underway.

Hallelujah.

"It's an identity," Wicks said postgame, adding that if he had it his way a 21-assist, eight-turnover outing like this one would be the norm. "It's a mentality and it's a lot of trust in me and the players to be able to make the right decisions in the open floor."

From rookies to veterans, this new-look roster is loaded with potential. What more can you ask for in this often frustrating transfer-portal era?

Nasir Meyer, a freshman guard that has real NBA aspirations, certainly doesn't look out of place. He calmly drilled a triple on the Cowboys' first possession of this 111-63 exhibition rout of defending NAIA National Champions College of Idaho.

The Los Angeles product capped his first outing inside this building with 18 points on 7-9 shooting. He was the top facilitator, too, dishing out four assists, including a picture-perfect lob to a fellow 13th grader, Gavin Gores.

"We play fast, we play unselfish and we're able to move the ball and push the pace in transition -- especially in the A-A," Meyer said. "It's going to wear teams down with the elevation advantage."

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This guard-heavy lineup got major contributions from Demarion Dennis, Uriyah Rojas, Matija Belic and Khaden Bennett, too. Leland Walker, who should be the starting point guard when the regular season opens next Monday, netted a team-high 20 in last Saturday's tilt with Northern Colorado  in Gillette. Today, the Florida Atlantic transfer went the well-rounded route, finishing with 2 assists, 3 rebounds to go along with seven points.

Four -- Meyer, Dennis (12), Bennett (12) and Rojas (11) -- finished in double-figures. Every player, aside from Abou Magassa, chipped in on that final point total. Wyoming shot 56% from the floor and drilled 7-of-20 from beyond the arc.

Magassa did cap this one with two rebounds, an assist and an impressive block at the rim.

Freshman forward Simm-Marten Saadi netted nine points. Fellow big man, and Laramie native, Neil Summers, chipped in with eight.

Wicks is used to toying with starting lineups. That should be a good problem to have this season.

No one in Division-I hoops did more tinkering than Wicks in his first season at Wisconsin-Green Bay. That squad also improved its win total by 15 games and finished third in the Horizon League.

"There are 12-to-13 guys that are very capable of playing college basketball," Wicks said. "What we talked about was, we have to fight human nature, and human nature is: I want more for myself. We got to want more for us. We got to want more for Wyoming. Whatever your role is that day, this day, this week, this game, whatever the scheme presents itself.

"We have to be selfless enough to know that maybe it's somebody's night tonight, but not mine. But it could be mine tomorrow."

Can the Cowboys make that kind of jump this winter with conference heavy weights San Diego State, Boise State and Utah State still wearing a Mountain West logo on their chests?

We'll see.

What became blatantly obvious today was the talent level, the effort on both ends of the floor, and maybe most important element of all, a fun brand of offensive basketball, something this university has been missing since the Steve McClain days.

That alone should put more wins in that left-hand column and butts in these seats.

The next outing is for real. Wicks' alma mater, Northern State, rolls onto the high plains on Nov. 3. Tip time is 6:30 p.m.

"We'll be ready when they come to town," Wicks said. "It's just another step in our process for us. But, I told these guys, this is fun. This is fun today. It's all sunshine and gumballs, but then this all goes back in the box, man.

"... Our guys will be ready, but it's for real now. We're playing for keeps.