Hello, I’m Sundance Wicks and Here Are My Expectations

LARAMIE -- "Everybody, good to see you. How you doing? Sundance Wicks here. Nice to meet you."

Wyoming's third-year head coach was in mid-season form Monday, holding court with the local media inside the Arena-Auditorium.

Those words above, he embellished a tad, referring to the opening comments he made to his basketball team ahead of the first practice of the fall. All jokes aside -- well, kind of -- Wicks said the ultimate goal remains the same: Win a Mountain West title and punch a ticket to the NCAA Tournament.

He knows that isn't breaking news.

How do the Cowboys meet those lofty expectations?

"It's becoming the best version we can of ourselves," Wicks added. "It's really hard to just build upon what you were last year because, even though we returned 50% of our production, we turn to four guys that played meaningful minutes for us."

Naz Meyer is back for Round 2 after netting nearly 13 points per night on 46.3% shooting during his freshman campaign. He also added 4.9 rebounds.

Fellow guard Khaden Bennett is also capping his career in Laramie after pouring in 10.2 an outing last winter. Forward Gavin Gores also decided to stick around. The 6-foot-10 Wisconsin product started to find his footing during league play, reaching double figures six times, including a 20-point outing in the season finale at San Jose State.

Uriyah Rojas may have the biggest task of all, replacing leading scorer Leland Walker, who exhausted his eligibility in 2025-26. The frontrunner at the point, averaged just 6.2 points per game last fall in a limited roll.

Wyoming also returns Neil Summers, who impressed this staff all season as he patiently waited for his turn. The 6-foot-9 Laramie native now has a fully understanding of Wicks' scheme.

"You still have 10 other guys that don't understand what we're doing and why we do it," Wicks added. "So, we understand that the goal is to win championships and is to compete for championships. Every other team in the United States of America wants that product, as well. So our process just has to be better than others, and that's why we're maniacal every single day with our energy, effort and enthusiasm."

Wyoming made its first postseason appearance since 2022 last year, playing Wichita State in the opening round of the National Invitational Tournament. That was a major step in the right direction for a program that has been marred in mediocrity -- at best -- and has been gutted by the NCAA Transfer Portal on an annual basis.

That's not the case now.

So, what will be different about this roster?

"I saw that we are a really good offensive rebounding team," Wicks said, referring to what he learned about this team during summer workouts. "Guys are really committed to their roles, as far as winning those possessions. We're not as fast as we were last year, which is fine. We need to be efficient, offensively, and our offense has to help our defense this year.

"There's going to be a little bit of change of pace here, but not drastically."

The improvements the Gillette product wants to see are cut and dry: Play defense without fouling.

Only six teams were worse than the Cowboys in that all-important category. In 33 games, Wyoming averaged 20.9 giveaways a night.

"I would just consider us the worst team in the fricking country at fouling," Wicks said with a smile and a slight head shake. "It's amazing if you really actually look at that, how we handicapped ourselves. It's amazing that we won 18 games by being 360th in fouling in the country. It's amazing. So that's a testament to the guys last year, just their grit and the resolve and the resilience to be able to finish strong."

He also wants to see his big men defend the paint with more vigor. Opponents shot 53.6% from the field. Now they'll have to deal with Renars Sondors, Micah Curtis, Linus Ruf, Summers and Gores. Freshman Chris Pohl, currently dealing with a back injury, could also become a presence in the box this winter.

"Our whole defensive scheme and philosophy this year is: how do we become a Top-75 defense, and what adjustments do we have to make defensively?" Wicks said, joking that he won't be publicly discussing that plan. "How do we become a team that really shrinks the gaps and protects the paint, and probably allows a little bit more threes than we have in the past?"

Yes, he wants opponents to shoot from deep. Here's why: 32.7%.

Wyoming has 42 days to practice 30 times. Northern Colorado is first on the docket. That exhibition tilt will take place Oct. 11 in Gillette. Six days later the Cowboys will travel to Midland, Texas to tangle with TCU.

It all gets started for real Nov. 3 when Regis pays a visit to the high plains.

"This is the stacking days part that we're in right now," Wicks said. "When you go into the summer and you're experimenting with a lot of things, you're trying to figure out who you are, what your identity is going to be, and then, for us, every offseason is areas of growth that we need to see in our program. That's not winning and losing, right? We understand the metrics of winning and losing. You have to win games. We all know that."

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