Cowboys ready to begin on Friday

by UW Athletics Media Relations

The 2009-10 college basketball season has arrived and the University of Wyoming Cowboys begin practice Friday at 4 p.m. in the Arena-Auditorium.

Third-year Wyoming head coach Heath Schroyer welcomes back two starters and five letterwinners from a successful 2008-09 season. Last year, the Cowboys finished 19-14 overall and earned a spot in the postseason, hosting a first round game of the College Basketball Invitational. It marked the best season by a Cowboy team since 2002-03 and the postseason invitation was the 23rd in UW basketball history. The Pokes also advanced to the semifinals of the Mountain West Conference Championship.

“We can’t wait to start practicing, as we have been anticipating this day for some time,” Schroyer said. “I really like this group and the chemistry they have. It is the best team chemistry I have seen in my time here. We have a young, talented team and they are ready to take the next step.

“During the first couple weeks of practice, we will focus on laying the foundation. We will emphasize our offensive and defensive philosophy as we install everything from the ground up. As we get closer to our first game, we will shift our focus toward more of the specifics.”

This season, the Cowboys will be led by a pair of returning starters in sophomores Afam Muojeke and Adam Waddell.

Muojeke, the 2009 MWC Freshman of the Year, broke the conference’s all-time freshman scoring record with 454 points. He also pulled down 175 rebounds, which are the seventh most by a freshman in MWC history. In addition, he was also selected as an Honorable Mention All-Freshman by Collegehoops.net, as he averaged 13.8 points and 5.3 rebounds a game last year.

Waddell, the Cowboys’ starting center last season, averaged 5.1 points, 3.9 rebounds and 0.64 blocks per game. He scored in double figures five times and pulled down double figure rebounds once.

The Cowboys also welcome back three other letterwinners including senior Ryan Dermody, junior Djibril Thiam and sophomore A.J. Davis.

One exciting aspect of the 2009-10 season will be the emergence of two NCAA Division I transfers. Redshirt sophomores JayDee Luster and Boubacar Sylla, each of whom sat out last season, will be eligible to play this season. Luster, a point guard who transferred from New Mexico State, was named a team captain this past May. Sylla, who came to UW from Auburn, is the tallest player in Wyoming history at 7-foot-2 inches.

The Cowboys also welcome six newcomers and one returning team member from last season. The newcomers include sophomore junior college transfer Thomas Manzano and freshmen Daylen Harrison, Desmar Jackson and Amath M’Baye, as well as a pair of walkons in junior Rob Watsabaugh and sophomore James Dean. Sophomore Arthur Bouedo also returns for the Cowboys after missing last season with an injury. However, he will have to sit out of non-conference play to satisfy NCAA rules regarding amateurism.

From Friday’s first day of practice, the Cowboys will have 22 days to prepare for their first game of the 2009-10 season. The Pokes will host Regis University, in an exhibition game, on Nov. 7. They will open regular season play on Nov. 13 by hosting South Dakota State.

UW to host Brown and Gold Basketball Bash

The University of Wyoming Cowboy and Cowgirl basketball programs will host a special season ticket promotion, which has been dubbed the Brown and Gold Basketball Bash, Saturday, from 9-11 a.m. in the Arena-Auditorium.

Upper level season tickets for the Cowboys and all season tickets for the Cowgirls will be available at a 20 percent discount.

Fans purchasing season tickets on Saturday will have the opportunity to pop a balloon attached to their new seats. The balloons contain free gifts including season tickets, vouchers for Arena-Auditorium concessions, UW apparel and more.

Upper level Cowboy season tickets will be available for $140 (regularly $179), and all Cowgirl basketball season tickets will be available for $79 (regularly $99).

Members of the Cowboy and Cowgirl basketball teams will be in attendance at the event, and fans will be able to meet and mingle with their favorite players.

The Cowboys will host 19 games in the Arena-Auditorium this season, the second most in school history. The Cowgirls will host 15 home games this season, which is highlighted by a home game against Oregon, whom the Cowgirls last welcomed in the second round of the 2007 WNIT.

The Brown and Gold Bash will precede Wyoming’s 85th Homecoming football game against the New Mexico Lobos. The Cowboys and Lobos will kick off at 12 p.m. from War Memorial Stadium.

Schroyer, Cowboys excited to get going

Richard Anderson photo
Wyoming sophomore Afam Muojeke returns as the Cowboys leading scorer.

By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org

With the Mountain West Conference basketball preseason meetings in Denver today and Wednesday, optimism is overflowing.

After all, all teams are still unbeaten.

Many of the men’s head coaches who took the stage on Tuesday, however, are truly excited about the possibilities. Wyoming coach Heath Schroyer is one of those coaches.

Schroyer’s Cowboys, coming off of a CBI tournament appearance and 19 wins, can’t wait to get going officially in the next few days.

“Like everyone who sits here, they are excited about their team,” Schroyer said on The Mtn. live stream interview by Bill Doleman. “But I’m really excited because we’re talented, but so many of our guys, like Afam (Muojeke) and Adam (Waddell), are sophomores, but they are really redshirt sophomores. On paper, we have 10 freshmen and sophomores, but a lot of those guys have redshirted and been with us a while. I think that gives us a little bit of an advantage going into the season.”

Another advantage, Schroyer said, is the fact that the Cowboys are coming off a postseason birth, something Wyoming hadn’t done since the 2002-2003 season.

“The first things is it was a huge accomplishment. It was year two of our program,” he said. “Thirty-seven percent of all teams in college basketball go to the postseason. We were one of the top 37 percent. Now, what is the next step? That’s what I told our team when they got back here in August. Last year we went to the CBI. What do we want to do this year?"

The answer is simple. Play well into March. Year-in and year-out, Schroyer said he wants to be a spring break team or to put it simply, playing during spring break in the postseason.

“I told our freshmen that I hope you never go to spring break for four years," Schroyer said. “That’s our goal every year, to play in the postseason. Now we have to make the next step and climb up in the league.”

Schroyer was asked, likely the first of many times in the next couple of weeks: Where will the Cowboys get scoring from, with the graduation of Brandon Ewing, along with Tyson Johnson and Sean Ogirri. Ewing left Wyoming as the No. 2 all-time leading scorer in Wyoming history.

Muojeke, last year’s MWC Freshman of the Year, averaged 13.8 points a game last year and is expected to be the team’s go-to player offensively. Schroyer is also looking for big contributions from Waddell and sophomore Boubacar Sylla, both at post, along with junior forward Djbril Thiam. Sophomore wing A.J. Davis, sophomore point guard JayDee Luster and sophomore transfer, guard Thomas Manzano.

“Obviously, Brandon was a great player. I think that this team and our teams in the future will take on a different identity,” he said. “I think defensively we will be better. Brandon was a great player who scored a lot of points and won some basketball games for us. No one can ever take away that that kid is talented. But now we’ll just have a new look, a new identity and that is exciting for myself, for the players in the program and also the fans in Wyoming.”

That new identity officially begins on Oct. 16.

BYU heads men's hoop poll; Cowboys sixth

DENVER - Three-time defending Mountain West Conference champion Brigham Young was picked as the favorite once again in the men's basketball preseason media poll and all-conference team on Tuesday. The Wyoming Cowboys were picked sixth.

The Cougars, one of three teams to share the regular-season crown in 2008-09, captured 23 of 24 first-place votes and 215 points for the top spot in the poll. San Diego State, the 2009 MWC Tournament runner-up, collected the remaining first-place vote and 166 points to finish in second, followed closely by UNLV in third with 161 points. Utah and New Mexico, who split the 2008-09 MWC regular-season title with BYU, landed in the fourth- and fifth-place spots, respectively, with the Utes tallying 143 points to the Lobos' 141 points. Wyoming received 89 points to finish sixth, followed by TCU (82 points) in seventh, Colorado State (58 points) in eighth and Air Force (25 points) in ninth to round out the poll.

BYU is coming off a third consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance and a 25-8 overall record in 2008-09. The Cougars received an at-large berth after capturing their third straight Mountain West regular-season title with a 12-4 mark.

San Diego State turned in a fourth-place effort (11-5) in regular-season Conference play. Following their runner-up finish in the MWC Tournament, the Aztecs advanced to the semifinals of the 2009 National Invitation Tournament, closing out the season with a 26-10 overall mark. UNLV (21-11) and New Mexico (22-12) joined the Aztecs in the NIT, while Utah (24-10) captured the 2009 MWC Tournament crown and earned the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, making its first trip to the Big Dance since a Sweet 16 appearance in 2005.

Over its 10-year history, the Mountain West Conference has received 22 bids to the NCAA Tournament, including 13 at-large berths. The MWC has had at least one at-large qualifier in nine of those 10 years, including eight straight. Since 2003, all nine MWC teams have participated in postseason play at least once.

Three juniors and two seniors representing four institutions were chosen for the 2009-10 preseason all-MWC team. BYU's Jimmer Fredette received Preseason MWC Player of the Year honors, while UNLV's Derrick Jasper garnered Preseason Newcomer of the Year accolades and San Diego State's Kawhi Leonard collected Preseason Freshman of the Year kudos.