Now that Wicks has been hired, it will be interesting to see how he composes his staff this late in the process. My guess is that he tries to retain most of the current staff. A few thoughts on potential options:

Existing Staff:

1. Ken DeWeese - This is the most important one obviously. From the outside it would be great if we could keep DeWeese in an Associate HC role, but of course we have no idea what kind of relationship DeWeese and Wicks have or how DeWeese feels about being passed over. My guess is that DeWeese stays on, but I wouldn't be surprised if he moves on next year.

2. NIck Whitmore - Probably the one that seems most likely to not be part of the staff moving forward. He's the only one that was not on the staff with Wicks when he was here.

3. Shaun Vandiver - I think they called his role "Special Assistant to the Head Coach" or something similar. I think it's part of every Wyoming HC contract that they have Vandiver on staff in some capacity. He probably already had the record for the largest number of head coaches to be an assistant for at the same school, but he can add to his record here.

4. Tim O'Flannigan - Ops - Would seem to be a no-brainer to keep Tim.

5. Coleman Sparling - per lclark, Linder was going to elevate Sparling to a formal AC role. Wicks worked with him for one year, not sure what will happen here.


Outside Options:

1. Pat Monaghan - Was top assistant at UWGB for Wicks. Might be an option as the interim there, but if not, could be an option for Wicks at UW.

2. Dan Russell - Assistant at Weber State. Most Wyoming fans are probably familiar with him. Was an assistant under Danny Sprinkle at Montana State, head coach at Casper, and started as a GA at UW.


I don't think he has any interest in returning to college coaching, but of course Sundance's brother Luke had a solid assistant coaching career at USF and Pacific (under Stoudamire when they were a lot more competitive than they were under Perry the last few years).

The last four head coaches that we’ve had all finished with Mountain West losing records for their career. That has got to change. Leads me to believe that there’s a lot more wrong in athletic department. Most of that was before NIL. we need to find a way to get top half talent in the mountain west. And to get kids to stay here. NIL inflamed the problems that were already there. Sundance has lotta work ahead hopefully some of the stuff up there change that in the athletic department that the coach has no control over hindering the program! Or else nothing will change

The guard was the 2nd leading scorer for Wicks last season.

Personally, I think this would be a wonderful development in downtown Laramie. It's not in the center of downtown, but on the west edge near the tracks. It would help solve Laramie's housing shortage. Walkability in the downtown area would be a huge selling point and I suspect supported by the downtown merchants.

Personally, I don't get the pushback from the locals?

Link to story

Last year it looks like UWGB was ball dominate with Noah Reynolds doing the bulk of the per game scoring at 20 per game. They did have 5 other guys average between 6.5 and 8.5 points a game. If Sunny can convince a combination of Douglas, Ruedinger, Jones, Ebude, Wonders, and Hall with him that would help a lot, especially Jones and Ebude.

2024 Recruits/Transfers
Bennett Baisch - 6'4" HS guard from Heartland, WI
Scottie Ebude - 6'10" Transfer from Southern Illinois

2023-24 Roster

Might be able to see them in Laramie/Cheyenne tonight. NOAA

How is it possible that Burman hasn't made a single public comment about this mess yet?

Not even his normal hokey nonsense that they're "going to get this right" or something.

I'm wondering if Seidel is finally ready to pull the trigger.

Do any of the assistants have a contact for more than year to year? Does anyone know when yearly contracts start?

Will Linder oh us a buyout since he became an assistant at Texas Tech. if he left for a head coaching job, I’m sure he would’ve but I don’t know leaving for an assistance job if he does. With someone, please clarify that if they know what’s in his contract

Pretty good read imo.

My sister and her husband had a BOT Member over for dinner last night and he stated that they are aware of our NIL shortcomings and that they know we need to step up our game!

Pete Thamel reporting this. Says close to a deal. Would be top assistant.

Probably going to TT to be on McCasland’s staff. Terrible, awful, bullshit move to pull in May.

The positive is that even though next year will be an abject failure, entire rosters are year to year now so if we get the right coach and maybe some NIL we could be competitive by 25-26.

Wake me when August gets here.

Beyond Sundance, who are some candidates for Head Coach?

Anyone know how the transfer situation will work? My understanding is that anyone currently in the program will have the opportunity to transfer out once Linder officially leaves.

With the transfer window closed, will DeWeese or whoever is next be limited to looking at kids who entered the portal but didn't get signed to a new school?

If current players leave, what are the options to fill their spots?

6'10 230lb, Yuto Yamanouchi-Williams. Played at Lamar his freshman year and Portland last year. Good skilled big man who can also shoot the 3. Has 2 years of eligibility.
Go POKES

Of the 16 team Big12--Athlon Sports-Post Spring 2024 Power Rankings has
A-State at #13 and
BYU at #14;

A-State #13:
Lost a couple of key players to the portal. O-Line should be improved. QB-Mich State transfer to replcae their prior QB that took off to Georgia.


BYU #14
Rushing Defense gave up 204 yds per game. QB group includes BYu reurnee Retzlaff and incoming transfers from Baylor ( Bohanon) and Hillstead ( Utah State)

PG Tyree Ihenacho
SG Kobe Newton
Wing Matija Belic
PF Tauko Tainamo
C Oleg Kojenets

In the rotation, Yuto Yamanouchi-Williams, Obi Agbim, Nigel Cook.

I have no idea if this is anything close to the depth chart but at first glance, this could be it. Maybe Oleg comes off the bench and Yuto starts. Obviously the incoming freshmen could change it.

Linder Adds Yuto Yamanouchi-Williams to 2024-25 Roster​

Native of Japan played at University of Portland last season​

Nick Seeman
Men's Basketball 5/8/2024 2:57:00 PM

LARAMIE, Wyo. (May 8, 2024) – Wyoming Cowboy head men's basketball coach Jeff Linder announced the addition of forward Yuto Yamanouchi-Williams (YOO-toh YAH-muh-NOO-chee) to the 2024-25 roster on Wednesday. He will have two-years of eligibility at Wyoming after spending last season at Portland.

A 6-10, 230-pound forward, Yamanouchi-Williams is a native of Aizuwakamatsu, Japan. Last season, Yamanouchi-Williams appeared in 12 games with 11 starts all coming in West Coast Conference play. He averaged 8.6 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. He averaged nearly one block per game and shot 36 percent from behind the arc. He scored a season-high 17 points against Santa Clara and had a season-high 10 rebounds against Pacific.


Yamanouchi-Williams spent his freshman season at Lamar. He averaged 6.9 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. He added five double-doubles and nearly averaged one blocked shot per game. He started 24 games as a true freshman.

He represented Japan at the U19 level in 2021-22 FIBA World Cup in Latvia. In high school, he helped lead Ribet Academy to back-to-back state title games in California.

Linder on Yamanouchi-Williams

"We're excited to welcome Yuto to the Cowboy family. He brings great front-court versatility to the table. His combination of size, length and skill will provide options up front. He has a great nose for the ball and consistently rebounds at a high level. His capacity to move and switch-ability gives us exceptional flexibility on the defensive end of the floor. Yuto's best basketball is in front of him, and we can't wait to be a part of his continued development."

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Absolute insanity. This kid will knock it out of the park when it comes time to find employment ...

Dlineman who played alot and expected to start and have a good season. This one really sucks!!

1WYO and Wyo student athletes event.

Link