Waddell looking to give Cowboys post presence, added toughness

Richard Anderson photo
Wyoming redshirt freshman Adam Waddell works on setting a screen with Cowboy coaches Heath Schroyer and Anthony Stewart.

By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org

If three words could describe Wyoming redshirt freshman Adam Waddell this season, it would be bigger, faster, stronger.

A fourth word would be potential.

The Cody native showed that promise early last year before suffering a stress fracture to his left foot in the sixth game and sitting out the season with a medical redshirt.

Waddell is now being counted on to provide some much-needed post presence and toughness in Heath Schroyer’s second season at the helm.

“Adam Waddell is going to win a lot of basketball games at Wyoming, there’s no question in my mind,” Schroyer said. “He’s tough and he can rebound out of his area. It’s really hard to find post players who can go get it out of their area, and Adam is one of those guys.”

Waddell’s redshirt season proved to be a blessing in disguise, although looking back, he said at times it was a frustration in reality.

A competitor who reminds many old Cowboy fans of Jon Summers (1986-88) -- not only with his aggressive in-your-face play, but in the face -- Waddell didn’t want to watch from behind the bench; he wanted to be on the front line.

At the same time, he said he knew it was the right thing to do. That frustration has since diminished.

“In a way, it was beneficial because I have grown a little bit and I have gained a little bit of weight,” he said. “I think I have gotten better as a player. Looking back, it was a good decision.”

Knock on wood, Waddell’s left foot is fine. Not only has he beefed up, but he has been able to work on his post game on the court. His biggest improvements? Facing up to the basket and rebounding.

“I’m trying to be an aggressive player and I think I have maintained that since I broke my foot,” Waddell said.

In a recent practice, the Wyoming coach staff, armed with pads, beat on Waddell and sophomore post Mikhail Linskens mercifully while they drove to the basket. The end result is to go up strong despite the pounding.

Then bigger and stronger than anyone else on the court at Cody High School, Waddell said he had to adjust to the physical play as a Cowboy.

“Although we did that in high school, when I got to college, I was a little hesitant to get in there and bang,” he said. “But I got more and more used to it. Last year, Joe (Taylor) was a physical player and pushing Mikhail off the block is not an easy job. I think it is what my game should be.”

Waddell and Linskens will have to go toe-to-toe with the best the Mountain West Conference has, particularly Utah’s Luke Nevill.

Waddell said it is critical that he and Linskens establish a post presence. He said Schroyer tells them that every day in practice.

“We want to be the aggressor, the more physical team at the post spot,” he said. “You can’t be a finesse player when you are my size. I am kind of a smaller five guy for the guys in my conference. I have to be that way to play.”

Waddell was listed at 6-foot-9, 215 pounds last season. He was still at about 215 earlier in the summer before he put on about 15 pounds. And he grew an inch.

“This is where Coach wants me to play at,” he said.

The added weight has been an adjustment for his body, he said, as he felt the weight initially.

“But it is not a bad thing; it is a good thing,” he said.

Although still a very young team, Waddell said the Cowboys have high hopes for the season.

“Coach has all of his guys that the has recruited in here and I have been fortunate enough to stay here,” Waddell said. “Having Brandon (Ewing) and with Sean (Ogirri) able to play, and Tyson (Johnson) those three seniors being leaders are going to help us a lot. There’s a ton of experience right there.

“The new guys brought in are very athletic and very long. We have Djibril (Thiam) back in December and he will be a huge help. We’re excited. We’re hoping for the best and we’re striving to get that record going and getting momentum going into conference so we can so some things this season.”

Johnson suspended
University of Wyoming senior forward Tyson Johnson has been suspended for the first two "events" of the 2008-09 season, due to a violation of team rules, Schroyer announced on Wednesday.

Schroyer said he will have no further comment on this matter.

Johnson will miss Saturday's scrimmage in Seattle against Washington and the exhibition game on Nov. 8 against the Colorado School of Mines.

The 6-foot-6 Johnson, a transfer from Blinn Community College in Brenham, Texas, came on in the Mountain West Conference season last year and averaged 12.5 points, 5.9 rebounds and played 27.6 minutes a game in his final 12 contests, scoring in double figures in 10 of those games.

Johnson’s best scoring performances of the season came on March 5 when he scored 20 points against BYU. He also scored 18 against San Diego state, 17 against Colorado State and 16 points against UNLV.

Johnson averaged 7.0 points for the season.

On the court: Schroyer-- Cowboys ahead of last year

Richard Anderson photo
Newcomers Afam Muojeke drives on Djbril Thiam during a recent Cowboy practice.

By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org

Editor’s note: Wyoming Sports.org sat down with Wyoming head men’s basketball coach Heath Schroyer this week and discussed the differences between his first season and the beginning of his second season. In the second of two stories, Schroyer talks about the changes and additions on the court.

The Wyoming Cowboys took a shot to the chest in the first round of the Mountain West Conference basketball tournament, losing to Colorado State in the first round.

Wyoming had beaten the rival Rams twice during the regular season, but saw its season come to a staggering halt with the loss. It was a tough way for Wyoming head coach Heath Schroyer to end his first season at the helm. Although the Cowboys had just 12 wins going into the tournament, Schroyer felt like the program had made strides in many other areas, on and off the court.

Despite the loss, it only took Schroyer “a couple of hours” to start thinking about seson. A few days later, they went back to work.

“As hard as it was losing the last game, there was a point a couple of day afterwards that you realize, 'you know what, we weathered the storm and as hard as it was, we got through it. We’re better today,'" Schroyer said.

“The guys that we sat out, the guys we knew we would have back and the guys we thought we were going to bring in, it got our juices flowing pretty quick. I’m happy that we didn’t quick fix this. We’ve done it with young guys, we’ve done it by bringing guys in and redshirting them and balancing out our classes. We haven’t set ourselves up as a one-hit wonder. We have set ourselves sup, in my opinion, for continued improvement and gradual improvement. Hopefully, we’re getting to a point where each year we’re competing for postseason bids. If we can do that, then we have accomplished a lot.”

After returning from the MWC tournament in Las Vegas, Schroyer had the team take a few days off before getting back into the weight room.

“As the leader of the program, I had to come out and show that it was over, as hard as it was,” he said. “We went back in and started working hard. When you work hard and starting sweating again, you start talking about next year and what we have to do in the off-season. It gets everybody ready to go, to get that bad taste out of your mouth. I really feel that from the seniors way more than from the previous year.”

Schroyer said he leans on his three seniors -- guards Brandon Ewing and Sean Ogirri and forward Tyson Johnson -- to lead this team that still is young and inexperienced. Ewing is a two-time MWC scoring champion, with Ogirri bringing in scoring and leadership after transferring from Wichita State, where he led the Shockers to the Sweet 16 two seasons ago. Johnson came on last season to become a valuable scorer down low.

“I talked to the seniors on the very first day of school. I talked to them about this being their last go-around,” Schroyer said. “I challenged all of the guys in the program, and starting with this senior class, to leave this program better than how you found it. If each guy in the program, if each coach in the program can do that, then we have done our job. That’s the biggest thing that I talk to these three seniors about when we talk alone. That’s kind of our motto, so to speak, as a program. We all know where it was. If we do that in each class, then we’re going to have a program that we all want.”

Young and inexperienced for sure, Schroyer likes the talent and the potential.

“There is no question in my mind that our young kids are talented and they all have a chance to be really good players here,” he said. “I’m more confident because it is year two. Guys understand what we are trying to accomplish on both sides of the ball.”

The key, Schroyer added, will be how quick the young players will adapt and step into their roles.

“Our three seniors have all, in different ways, proven themselves at this level,” Schroyer said. “Now, it is going to come down to the two or three young guys who can step up and become contributors. If that happens, then we have a chance to become pretty competitive.

Schroyer is certainly counting on 7-foot sophomore center Mikhail Linskens and 6-8 junior forward Ryan Dermody to continue their improvement, and redshirt freshmen Adam Wadell (6-9) and Afam Muojeke (6-7) to step in and contribute. Also new to the program is 6-7 junior forward Mahamoud Diakite and transfer Djbril Thiam (6-9), who will be eligible at the start of the second semester and 6-5 freshman A.J. Davis.

Sophomore transfer guard JayDee Luster and 7-2 sophomore Boubacar Sylla will sit out as redshirts, with freshmen walk-ons guards Galand Thaxton and Arthur Boudeo also on the roster.

Despite the plethora of new faces, Schroyer said it is still easier because last year was a completely new offense and a new defensive philosophy. The returning Cowboys are ahead of last year because it is the same offense and same defense.

“As hard as it was last year, we kept teaching and we kept demanding certain things on both sides of the ball because that is how we are going to build a program,” Schroyer said. “If we just threw it away midseason and did something else, then we would be starting at year one again on the basketball floor. I feel good about it. As hard as it was to bite the bullets that we had last year with redshirting certain guys and doing the things we had to do, there is no question in my mind that we are better off today because of it.”

Now is the time to take the next step in the process. As coaches and as players, Schroyer said they want to win every game.

“That is why we are here,” he said.

But for Wyoming at this stage of the program, he said that they have to be a little more realistic. After all, they have nine freshmen and sophomores on the roster.

“I think we’re going to surprise people this year,” Schroyer said. “We are set up in every component to be competitive for the next three, four, five years. That’s a credit to my staff and that’s a credit to our young men who are in the program. I’m excited about starting; I’m excited about our year. I like our guys. The three seniors are playing like seniors and they are leading like seniors. We have a lot of young pups who are following them, and if two or three of those guys step up like I think they will, then we are going to be pretty darn good come January or February.”

Second year changes: Breaking down the Cowboys

Richard Anderson photo
Wyoming head coach Heath Schroyer talks to his team during a drill in a recent practice session.

By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org

Editor’s note: Wyoming Sports.org sat down with Wyoming head men’s basketball coach Heath Schroyer this week and discussed the differences between his first season and the beginning of his second season. In the first of two stories, Schroyer talks about how he broke the program down off the court.
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It’s the little things that Heath Schroyer hopes brings big rewards to the Cowboy basketball program in the immediate future.

Now in his second year at the helm, Schroyer broke the program down and basically started from scratch. There were plenty of lumps taken along the way, but they were trials and tribulations that Schroyer said he envisioned and worked through.

For the Cowboys, it went back to team meetings, to how they present themselves, to how they go out on the floor, even to what they wore in practice. A big part of the transformation of the program was to just bring the team together.

“Last year, it was an endless process working on those things,” Schroyer. “Now, we’re not dealing with those things. Guys get along lot better. Our staff has done a good job of bringing players in, not only with talent level to compete in this conference, but that they get along and they mesh. A lot of people don’t think about those things in the recruiting process, but who can fit into the locker room and who can’t. If it comes down to two players and both of them are pretty comparable, we’re going to go with the guy who can add to the locker room. We’ve done that with all of the guys who we have been able to get here in the last 18 months. All of the guys get along, all of them mesh together.”

Schroyer wanted to see changes in the classroom, changes in how they acted and performed in practice. He said he wanted to see changes in how hard do they work in the weight room.

Again, it was the little things.

“We lift at 7 a.m. We all wear the same gear. All of those things, we’re not having to go back and re-teach,” he said. “It is becoming the culture. The accountability is becoming the culture and how hard we work is becoming the culture. From here on out, in my opinion, that’s when we start to build things and build a program that will hopefully get us back into the NCAA Tournament and be a team that can compete in this league. We’re excited about taking the next step in the process.”

Sounds easy. It wasn’t. Schroyer inherited problems in many areas when he took over from Steve McClain on March 23, 2007.

Schroyer and his staff basically had to do a little house cleaning. Some players didn’t adhere to those changes and they are gone. Some hesitated, some grabbed a hold of the changes and ran with it. It was nothing that Schroyer didn’t expect to face.

“It’s normal whenever there is a coaching change and taking over a situation like this one was in, you are always going to have certain individuals who maybe don’t want to conform or conform on the surface,” he said. “This year our guys have really bought in. They understand why they do what we do. Last year was a whole year of selling them of what we are trying to do.

“Here is the forest amongst the trees. At some point, this is what is going to happen. It feels good. As a head coach, I feel a lot better going into year two than I did going into year one. These guys, I love being around them. As funny as that sounds, sometimes that is hard. I enjoy the guys, I know they enjoy each other. I think they enjoy the coaches as well.”

Schroyer’s toughest sell: Everything.

“I’d like to think that we are very detail oriented in all of the things that we do,” Schroyer said. “That was the biggest thing. The pace of which we, as a coaching staff, work. The pace of which we want the program to work -- in all facets. Just the amount of rpms that each of the individuals have to run at that, I think, at the University of Wyoming, is the only way for us to be successful. We have to work harder than everybody else at every facet of the program.”

The facet that put the program in peril was academics. Wyoming men’s basketball was in dire straights in the classroom. When athletics director Tom Burman hired Schroyer, that was first and foremost on his fix-it list.

Last spring, the Academic Progress Rate for men's basketball -- as expected -- was down released from the 2006-07 academic year. UW's APR for men's basketball was 864, which was down from 881 for the 2005-2006 academic year.

Since then, Schroyer said the program has made good strides in the classroom, but it is not out of the woods yet.

“We were obviously in a very big hole, but we’re fighting our way out; our heads are above water now,” Schroyer said. “Our seniors are on track to graduate in the very foreseeable future. When I got here, that wasn’t the case. All of our guys stayed for summer school. It’s about accountability in the class room. Our staff has done a phenomenal job. Molly Moore, Tom Burman, from top to bottom, they have been very supportive of a lot of changes that I wanted to make in that component of the program.”

In Schroyer’s opinion, all of his players can now compete in the classroom. By redshirting players and taking Division I transfers and redshirting them, Schroyer said it enables them to buy us some time and get these guys close to graduating.

“As bad as I want to fix the basketball part, I have to do it at the same time to fix the academics,” he said. “We were at a point where we were going to lose postseason play, we were going to lose additional scholarships. Now we have come a long, long way in both of those areas in 18 months.”

Schroyer said that the academics problem wasn’t broke over night and it wasn’t going to be fixed over night. But through keeping players here all summer to manage the classes the players take, he said all of them are going towards degrees. Schroyer said those are all things that accountability-wise, that they had to get done.

“Getting them to class and our study sessions are very intense,” he added. “Our guys are in study hall Monday through Thursday and then Sunday night; five nights a week we’re in there. As coaches, we hold them accountable. That was one of the reasons I was hired. In the next year or so, we’ll be back to where we want to be academically.”

With the rise of popularity with the Cowgirl basketball program under Joe Legerski, the Cowboys have been thought of in the past by some as a little aloof within the community and on campus. That is another area where Schroyer has sought to improve. Like many aspects, he said that too goes back to recruiting.

“We wanted and recruited people who wanted to be here and about what we’re trying to be about,” he said. “We want to be team players who support the University of Wyoming. We’re not transparent, we’re not just our own entity. We’re part of a bigger piece here and that is a university community. We encourage it and I am glad. It is important for their overall being and it is important for us to be a component of the university community not just the basketball team.

“We have guys who are really good guys and they want to be out there. These are good kids. Whenever people get a chance to talk to Brandon Ewing, talk to Adam Wadell, talk to Mikhail Linskens, you’ll find out. I have gotten a lot of e-mails saying they are really good kids. They’re not perfect, but no 18- or 22-year old is perfect. More than that, they are really good ambassadors to the university and to the state of Wyoming. When you win games and you do it the right way and you do it with good people who are talented -- you have to have some talent -- when you do it with the quality of kids that we have in the program, it just makes it all the better.”

As the Cowboys are just a few days into official practices, the Wyoming coaching staff can now spend more time on basketball and getting the team competitive on the court.

That brings a smile to Schroyer’s face.

“Before you can win games or even think about that, you have to change your culture,” Schroyer said. “Right now, I feel like the culture has changed. Now we’re in a situation where we have to maintain the culture, which is a lot different than changing it. I feel better about it.”

The day he got to Laramie, Schroyer said that they had a lot of work to do. That hasn’t changed.

“We’ve accomplished a lot, but it takes a while for staff, for the university and for players to realize the attention to detail and the sense of urgency, the rpms that you have to run at be competitive,” he said. “We have a lot more work left.”
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Up next: Schroyer discusses the changes made on the court.

Ogirri, Ewing ready to lead Cowboys

Richard Anderson photo
Senior guard Brandon Ewing talks to Channel 5 sports director Macradee Aegerter Friday night after the Cowboys first practice. At lower left is senior transfer guard Sean Ogirri.

By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org

This was the practice that Sean Ogirri has been waiting for.

The senior transfer guard practiced all season last year with the Cowboys, but was forced to just sit and watch in the games due to NCAA transfer rules. Friday night, he practiced with a little more bounce to his step.

He gets to play this season.

“I needed that … the first one under my belt and the last first one as a senior,” Ogirri said. “Just getting after it. I felt pretty good. As a group, I think we did pretty well on the defensive end especially … five stops. On offense, we just know what we are doing. We just have to keep getting better every day.”

Ogirri came to Wyoming last season from Wichita State and brought to him a wealth of experience as the Shockers advanced to the Sweet 16 in his sophomore season.

Last year was tough on him not being able to contribute other than in practice.

“I think I feel like I am going harder; I’m in the games, so it is going to be second nature when I get into the game,” Ogirri said. “It’s all about going hard and getting after it. Like Coach says, just get better every day.”

Wyoming head coach Heath Schroyer said Ogirri did a good job in the off-season getting himself ready to go.

“Physically, he is stronger, and mentally, he is a fifth-year senior and it is his last go-around,” Schroyer said. “Him sitting out really kind of got his juices flowing. I know he is excited and I know, as a program, we’re exciting to have him.”

Fellow senior guard Brandon Ewing is thrilled to have Ogirri on the court with him.

“A lot of people don’t know it, but he is my best friend off the court,” Ewing said. “We have also become best friends on the court; he’s going to have a great year for the Cowboys.”

No one is more excited about having Ogirri and Ewing on the court together than Schroyer.

“You have Brandon, who is a three-time all-league player, a four-year starter, and Sean Ogirri has played in the Sweet 16, he’s played in the Missouri Valley and had 30 against Syracuse,” Schroyer said. “Those two have proven that on any given night that they can carry a basketball team. Having those guys in the backcourt is a great luxury for us because it buys us time for a lot of our young guys. We have nine freshmen and sophomores on the roster. Having those two guys kind of bridges the gap and buy us some time and hopefully our young guys are ready to step up before long.”

Schroyer added that the personalities of Ewing and Ogirri go well together.

“Brandon is a type A personality and Sean is definitely a type B personality,” Schroyer said. “They mesh very well on the floor. They mesh well on the floor, they mesh well off the floor. Anytime you have two talented guys like those two who are very capable, it is very important with how they get along and they get along great.”

Ewing will likely finish among the top scorers in Wyoming history when his career is done. He’s led the MWC the last two years in scoring, averaging 17.2 points a game last year and 19.9 per game in his sophomore campaign.

Ogirri comes to Wyoming averaging 9.7 points a game in his three years at Wichita State, including 12.0 his sophomore season and 17 points a game in the NCAA Tournament in 2006.

The backcourt of Ewing and Ogirri on paper could be the best in the conference this season. That’s certainly what Ogirri believes.

“It’s going to be real exciting. I don’t think anybody in the conference can stop us. We just have to do our thing on the defensive end and just get wins,” Ogirri said.

Ewing said Ogirri is going to bring a winning attitude to the team.

“He was on the cover of Sports Illustrated, he’s been to the Sweet 16 with a Top 10 team,” Ewing said. “He wants to win, he came here to win. That’s what he wants to do and that’s what we want to do.”

Ewing was in Las Vegas earlier in the week representing the Cowboys in the annual MWC Preseason Media Days. There, he was named to the preseason all-conference team. While Vegas is Vegas, he said he would have rather been in Laramie.

“I missed coming out here and working out with the guys,” Ewing said. “This is my last go-around and I want to spend as much time as I can with them and my coaching staff. I just want to go out there and win. I don’t care about the individual accolades. I do want to be all-conference, but I want to put a ring on my finger.”

It was just one practice for Ogirri, Ewing and the Cowboys, but it was the kind of beginning that they were looking for.

“It was a great first day,” Ewing said. “Guys are working hard and our coaching staff worked hard to prepare us for today. We just have to keep grinding.”

The main focus in the first practice, Ewing said, was the focus on everything -- offense and defense.

“We just want to get stops and get easy transition baskets,” he said. “That’s our game this year. We don’t want to settle too much on the offensive end, half-court sets. If it comes down that, we’ll do it. But other than that. We want to get fast break layups and 3s from Ogirri.”

Schroyer said that all first practices are usually pretty good and that was the case Friday night.

“We’re ready to go and I think we’re all excited about taking the next step in year two of the process,” Schroyer said. “We’re excited about putting a better product on the floor and having a better year.”

Now in his second year as head coach, Schroyer said the first three or four days, the first a week or even the first month, is all about teaching.

“There is a lot of break down of what we do offensively, what we do defensively,” he said. “As we get closer to game day, we’ll put in a few more set plays and out of bounds plays, things like that. Right now, it is more of the meat and potatoes things. What is our primary offense and what are we going to do on missed baskets, both offensively and defensively? Obviously, we’ll break down those things in a minute detail. This is a great time of the year as a coach because you really get to teach and you don’t have to worry about a game coming up in the next day or two.”

Cowboys to begin on Friday

Senior Tyson Johnson, right, is one of four Cowboy starters back from last season.

By Wyoming Sports.org

The Wyoming Cowboy basketball team will officially begin the 2008-09 season on Friday with their first full practice of the year. The Cowboys will have 22 days to prepare for their first game of the season, an exhibition game against the Colorado School of Mines on Nov. 8 in Laramie.

“We are really looking forward to getting the season started on Friday,” said second-year head coach Heath Schroyer. “This is an exciting time for our guys and our staff. As we enter our second season, we are excited about taking the next step as a program.

“We have a very nice mix of guys on our team this year. We have some great senior leaders, some strong guys coming back and some talented younger players. As we begin practice, our goal is to improve every day from now until the moment that we walk off the floor after our final game.”

The Cowboys welcome back three starters and four letterwinners from the 2007-08 season. Brandon Ewing, who was named Preseason All-Mountain West Conference on Tuesday, will be back for his senior season after leading the MWC in scoring in each of the past two seasons. Wyoming also welcomes junior Ryan Dermody, senior Tyson Johnson and sophomore Mikhail Linskens, who each started at least 11 games in 07-08. Dermody was UW’s third-leading scorer at 9.3 points per game. Johnson had a great stretch run in the second half of the season and averaged 9.8 points a game during MWC play. Linskens started 15 games as a true freshman, while averaging 4.2 points and 3.1 rebounds a game.

There will also be a number of new faces on the floor for the Cowboys this season, including three redshirts who sat out last season and seven newcomers. Redshirt senior Sean Ogirri, who sat out last year after transferring from Wichita State, is expected to be a main component of the Cowboy backcourt. Redshirt freshmen Afam Muojeke and Adam Waddell will both be playing their first full season with the Cowboys after redshirting last year.

The Cowboy newcomers include junior Mahamoud Diakite, sophomores JayDee Luster, Boubacar Sylla and Djibril Thiam as well as freshmen Arthur Bouedo, A.J. Davis and Galand Thaxton. Thiam transferred to Wyoming in January of 2008 and will not be available to play for UW until the end of the 2008 fall semester. Luster, a transfer from New Mexico State, and Sylla, a transfer from Auburn, will both have to sit out of competition this season to satisfy NCAA transfer rules.

Following their exhibition game on Nov. 8, the Cowboys will open the 2008-09 regular season on Nov. 14 when they host Cal State Bakersfield at 7 p.m.

Friday’s practice will not be open.

Ewing on preseason first team; Cowboys sixth

Brandon Ewing

By Wyoming Sports.org

LAS VEGAS -- The Mountain West Conference released its men's basketball preseason media poll and all-conference team Tuesday at the league's media day being held at the Renaissance Hotel.

Conference media selected two-time defending MWC Tournament champion UNLV as the preseason favorite to win the Mountain West Conference men's basketball regular-season title in 2008-09. Three teams earned first-place votes, with UNLV capturing 16 of 24 first-place votes and 206 points for the top spot in the poll. Two-time defending MWC regular-season champion BYU (181 points) collected five first-place votes, while San Diego State (170 points) earned three first-place votes to finish second and third, respectively. Utah tallied 148 points for fourth and New Mexico earned 132 points for fifth. Wyoming received 75 points to finish sixth, followed by Air Force (66 points) in seventh, Colorado State (53 points) in eighth and TCU (49 points) in ninth to round out the poll.

Wyoming senior guard Brandon Ewing was named to the preseason first team. Ewing is a two-time second team all-MWC honoree. He is just the second player in MWC history to lead the league in scoring in back-to-back seasons (2006-08). Ewing was named to the USBWA all-District VII team and NABC all-District 13 second team for the second straight season in 2007-08. He also led the MWC in minutes played (38.0) and ranked second in assists (4.03 apg), while ranking third in free throw percentage (.826), tied for fifth in three-point field goals (2.00 pg) and seventh in field-goal percentage (.431).

UNLV and BYU are coming off back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances and identical 27-8 overall records in 2007-08. The Runnin' Rebels posted a second-place finish in MWC regular-season play (12-4) and advanced to the second round of the Big Dance after earning the league's automatic bid. The Cougars captured their second straight Mountain West regular-season title with a 14-2 mark, receiving an at-large berth. San Diego State and New Mexico were NIT participants in 2007-08, while Utah competed in the inaugural College Basketball Invitational.

Over its nine-year history, the Mountain West Conference has received 20 bids to the NCAA Tournament, including 12 at-large berths. The MWC has had at least one at-large qualifier in eight of those nine years, including seven straight. Since 2003, all nine MWC teams have participated in postseason play at least once.

Five seniors representing five institutions were chosen for the 2008-09 preseason all-MWC team. BYU's Lee Cummard and UNLV's Wink Adams shared Preseason MWC Player of the Year honors, while UNLV's Tre'Von Willis garnered Preseason Newcomer of the Year accolades and New Mexico's Phillip McDonald received Preseason Freshman of the Year kudos.
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MWC Preseason Poll
1. UNLV (16) 206
2. BYU (5) 181
3. San Diego State (3) 170
4. Utah 148
5. New Mexiuco 132
6. Wyoming 75
7. Air Force 66
8. Colorado State 53
9. TCU 49
Preseason All-MWC
Lee Cummard, Sr., G, BYU
Lorenzo Wade, Sr., F, SDSU
Wink Adams, Sr., G, UNLV
Luke Nevill, Sr., C, Utah
Brandon Ewing, Sr., G, Wyoming
Preseason Co-Players of the Year
Lee Cummard, Sr., G, BYU
Winbk Adams, Sr., G, UNLV
Preseason Newcomer of the Year
TreVon Willis, So., G, UNLV
Preseason Freshman of the Year
Philip McDonald, G, New Mexico

Cowboy basketball to host open workout

Wyoming senior Brandon Ewing and the rest of the Cowboys will host an open workout Saturday before the UW-Utah football game.


by Wyoming Sports.org

Wyoming basketball fans can get a sneak preview of the 2008-09 men’s basketball team Saturday, as the team will host a workout that is open to the public prior to the Wyoming-Utah homecoming football game. The workout will run from 10:30-11:30 a.m. at the Arena-Auditorium and will feature team drills as well as a scrimmage.


“This is a great opportunity for our fans to get an early glimpse of our team,” said UW head coach Heath Schroyer. “We have some new faces this season and I think it will be nice for our fans to get to know each one and to see them in action. This will also be an intimate event as the fans will have a chance to visit with the guys afterwards.”

The Cowboys welcome back three starters and four letterwinners from last season. Led by three-time All-Mountain West Conference senior Brandon Ewing, Schroyer also welcomes back starters Ryan Dermody and Mikhail Linskens. Dermody started 29 games as a sophomore and was Wyoming’s third leading scorer with 9.3 points per game. Linskens started 15 games as a true freshman while averaging 4.2 points and 3.1 rebounds a game. Also back for the Cowboys is senior Tyson Johnson, who started 11 games last season and averaged 9.8 points a game during the conference season.

The Cowboy lineup will feature seven newcomers, as well as three redshirts who sat out last year. Redshirt senior Sean Ogirri, who sat out last year after transferring from Wichita State, looks to be a main component in the Cowboy backcourt. Redshirt freshmen Afam Muojeke and Adam Waddell will see their first full season with the Cowboys after redshirting last year. The UW newcomers include junior Mahamoud Diakite, sophomores JayDee Luster, Boubacar Sylla and Djibril Thiam, as well as freshmen Arthur Bouedo, A.J. Davis and Galand Thaxton.

Through NCAA rules, teams are allowed eight hours of workout time a week during the preseason and two of those hours can be used on skill work with the entire team. The Cowboys will be using one of their allotted hours for Saturday’s workout.

The Cowboys will begin their regular season practice schedule on Oct. 17. They will host one exhibition game against the Colorado School of Mines on Nov. 8, with the regular season beginning on Nov. 14 as they host Cal State Bakersfield