Richard Anderson photo
Wyoming sophomore post Mikhail Linskens looks for the rebound last week against Colorado School of Mines. At bottom, Wyoming junior Ryan Dermody is out indefinitely with a dislocated elbow.
By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org
One player in, one player out for the Wyoming Cowboys Friday as they open the regular season.
The Cowboys have lost junior wing Ryan Dermody indefinitely, as he dislocated his left elbow Wednesday in practice. Wyoming, however, will get back senior forward Tyson Johnson, who had to sit out two events (the scrimmage at Washington and last week’s exhibition opener) from a suspension.
The Cowboys will host Cal State Bakersfield Friday at 7 p.m. in the Arena-Auditorium.The loss of Dermody is a tough one for the Cowboys, Wyoming head coach Heath Schroyer said, because they lose an “IQ player who understands exactly what we are trying to do.” Schroyer added that the ball moves around well through the 6-foot-9 junior.
“It hurts us a little bit in that we have three guys who are going to suit up who weren’t in a uniform last year,” Schroyer said. “We’re going to suit up eight scholarship guys now. It hurts depth-wise, it hurts us with experience.”
Dermody, who averaged 9.3 points and 5.3 rebounds a game last season, will have a MRI next week to get a little "truer outcome," and Schroyer said he won’t be playing in the foreseeable future.
Redshirt freshman Afam Muojeke will start in Dermody’s place, with freshman A.J. Davis also expected to get a few more minutes of court time.
“It will be a great opportunity for Afam and A.J. to get quality minutes, and we do have Tyson back now. We’ll be OK. But in the immediate right here and right now, it obviously hurts," Schroyer said. "We have good players in the program and some of our young guys are just going to have to step up and grow up pretty fast.”
Schroyer said that trhey are obviously disappointed because Dermody had been playing well in practice and had been developing into a leader for the younger players.
“Unfortunately, it’s like we talked about yesterday as a group; injuries are part of sports,” Schroyer said. “We have good players in the program and we have three good seniors. Now it is time for us to go out and play and that is what it is.”
Johnson, who averaged 12 points a game in the final half of the MWC season last year, is expected to pick up some of the scoring slack to go along with senior guards Brandon Ewing and Sean Ogirri. Schroyer is also looking for good things from transfer forward Mahamoud Diakite.
“Tyson has done a great job and he has been statistically one of the best guys in practice," he said. “Mahamoud has done fabulous and I think Mahamoud is a guy who will play a lot of minutes and he is a guy who can play the four and the five and can defend a lot of different positions and really rebound the basketball.”
Cal State Bakersfield will be traveling to UW for the second time in as many years. In the first ever meeting between these two schools, Wyoming came away with a 78-53 win over the Roadrunners on Feb. 6 in Laramie. In that game, the Cowboys were paced by then freshman Mikhail Linskens, who scored a career-high 23 points.
CSUB is in the midst of a five-year transition from NCAA Division II to Division I. They began the process in 2005-06 and will compete as a full Division I member for the first time in 2010-11. They are currently considered a Division I independent.
“They have a lot of new faces,” Schroyer said. “Terrence Johns is back and Trent Blakley returns. Both are quality guys who can put the ball into the basket. They are very athletic, a little bit undersized in some positions, but very quick. Terrence Johns was the junior college player of the year in the state of California two years ago. They have good players. We’re obviously going to have to play well. But I think our guys are looking forward to tipping it off for real.”
Last Saturday, the Cowboys struggled at times, but stopped Colorado School of Mines 72-60 in their lone exhibition game.
Along with Muojeke and Johnson in the starting lineup, the Cowboys will again go with Ewing and Ogirri at guard and redshirt freshman Adam Waddell at the post.
“I know I am excited and I think our guys are excited to tip it off for real,” Schroyer said.
Hoop notes: UW will honor former Cowboy All-American Kenny Sailors by unveiling a banner in the Arena-Auditorium prior to Friday’s game. One of the greatest players in Cowboy basketball history, Sailors was a two-time All-American and a two-time national player of the year. Sailors helped lead the Cowboys to the 1943 NCAA National Championship. He was an All-American in 1943 and again in 1946, after serving his country during World War II. He received the Chuck Taylor award in 1943, which was presented to the most outstanding college player in the nation. He was then named the Helms Foundation player of the year in college competition in 1946. Sailors is also credited with inventing the modern day jump shot … In a special promotion, a ticket for this season opener will gain the holder free admission to Wyoming’s wrestling dual with Stanford, prior to the basketball game, at 5 p.m. On the other hand, a ticket to the wrestling dual will earn fans $5 off an upper level basketball ticket … Following this season opener, the Cowboys will return to the floor on Wednesday when they host Prairie View A&M, tipping off at 7 p.m.
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