Wyoming men’s basketball was thrown for a loop in May of 2024 when Jeff Linder shockingly departed to Texas Tech to become Grant McCasland’s assistant coach. The timing of the chaos was bad in more ways
than one, forcing an expedited coaching search followed by trying to assemble a roster together as quickly as possible.
The Pokes ultimately finished the 2024-25 season 12-20 after a 6-1 start to the season. Obi Agbim developed into an All-Conference player, but he was their only source of offense. Wyoming was inefficient and careless with the rock, ultimately making the difference in plenty of close games in MW play.
In Wicks’ second season, that’s been anything but the case. And Wyoming’s dynamism on both sides of the ball could pose them to be a real threat heading into conference action, which begins this week.
Why Wyoming’s diversified attack makes them a threat:
As we enter MW play, Wyoming is one of four teams with two or fewer losses, joining Utah State, Colorado State and New Mexico. They may not have a Quad 1 or 2 win — those account for their only two losses — but they have boatraced their competition up to this point.
They beat Portland by 37; they beat Denver by 42 while putting up 101 points; they beat South Dakota by 27 while tallying 106 points; they beat South Dakota State by 15 away from home. Their only two losses come to Sam Houston State (Q2) by eight and Texas Tech (Q1) by four.
They currently lead all MW competitors in scoring (87.9 ppg) and offensive rebounding rate, with the second-best effective field goal percentage, third-best field goal percentage, fifth-best 3-point percentage and second-best turnover percentage. And they are doing it in an egalitarian, free-flowing offense that focuses on ball movement and generating paint touches.
Wicks isn’t afraid to use his depth. He has 10 players who have logged at least 130 minutes with six players averaging at least seven points per game. Leland Walker, freshman guard Nasir Meyer and Khaden Bennett are the head of the snake — but the Pokes have plenty of players who can create and exploit advantages at a quick tempo without turning the rock over. That’s valuable.
It remains to be seen whether or not this will be sustainable come conference play. But Wyoming is an offense scoring nearly 90 points a pop without a back-breaking pace or 3-point frequency to back it up with. There’s a chance it comes down to earth a little bit because the defenses in the MW are much stronger than the ones they’ve faced.
But how much?! Time will tell. But Wicks, who’s done one heck of a job with what he’s had, could have Wyoming playing spoiler, at the very least.
