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.”