Wyoming Cowboys basketball

Wyoming Cowboys

2016–17 Wyoming Cowboys basketball team

University

University of Wyoming

Conference

Mountain West

Location

Laramie, WY

Head coach

Allen Edwards (1st year)

Arena

Arena-Auditorium
(Capacity: 11,612)

Nickname

Cowboys

Colors

Brown and Gold^[1]

Uniforms

Home

Away

Pre-tournament Helms champions

1934

NCAA Tournament champions

1943

NCAA Tournament Final Four

1943

NCAA Tournament Elite Eight

1941, 1943, 1947, 1949, 1952

NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen

1952, 1953, 1967, 1987

NCAA Tournament Round of 32

1981, 1982, 1987, 2002

NCAA Tournament appearances

1941, 1943, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1952, 1953, 1958, 1967, 1981, 1982, 1987, 1988, 2002, 2015

Conference tournament champions

1987, 1988, 2015

Conference regular season champions

1928, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934, 1936, 1941, 1943, 1946, 1947, 1949, 1952, 1953, 1958, 1967, 1969, 1981, 1982, 1986, 2001, 2002

The University of Wyoming men's basketball program, which competes in the Mountain West Conference, has a lengthy tradition dating back to 1905. Cowboys fans can claim something that few other teams' fans can: an NCAA Championship, won in 1943 under Hall of Fame coach Everett Shelton and behind star guard Ken Sailors, who pioneered the jump shot that is now the standard in basketball. Wyoming has made a total of 15 appearances in the NCAA Tournament, though the closest it has come to the lofty heights of the 1943 team was a Sweet 16 appearance in 1987. Since the Mountain West was formed in 1999, Wyoming has won two conference titles, including an outright championship in 2002. Prior to that, Wyoming won five championships in the Western Athletic Conference, eight championships in the Skyline Conference, and one championship in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.

History

The Wyoming basketball program began in 1904 when a group known as the "Laramie Town Team" challenged a team from the university to a basketball game; Wyoming won that game by a score of 17–5.^[2] The team became a powerhouse in the 1930s under coach Willard "Dutch" Witte, who led the 1934 Cowboy team to a 26–3 record. In those days before the NCAA Tournament had begun, college basketball's national champion was determined by a set of poll voters for the Helms Foundation, which selected Wyoming as its national champion. Witte coached a total of nine seasons in Laramie and compiled a 134–51 record.

After Witte stepped down in 1939, Everett Shelton took over the team and went on to become the winningest coach in Wyoming history in his 19 years in Laramie. Although Shelton went just 6–10 in his first season, his teams would win 20 or more games seven times during his career. In 1943, the Cowboys went 31–2 and won the NCAA Tournament. That team was led by Ken Sailors, who scored 16 points in the championship game victory over Georgetown on his way to being named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. In addition, Sailors was named college basketball's Player of the Year in 1943 and again in 1946 after returning from fighting in World War II. In all, the Cowboys made eight NCAA tournament appearances under Shelton, though they only won one game aside from the three-game run in 1943.

After Shelton retired in 1959, Wyoming basketball lay dormant for some time. Including Shelton's last four campaigns as head coach, the Cowboys endured nine consecutive losing seasons from 1956 to 1964. Coach Bill Strannigan, who succeeded Shelton, had just six winning seasons in fourteen years as head coach and made one NCAA Tournament appearance in 1967 in which the Cowboys were handed a lopsided loss at the hands of eventual national champion UCLA and its All-American center Lew Alcindor, who later changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Again from 1971 through 1978, the Cowboys had one winning season, a 17–10 campaign under Don DeVoe in 1976–77.

In 1978, Jim Brandenburg became the Cowboys' head coach and the program experienced a resurgence. In his nine seasons, Wyoming did not have a single losing season and made four NCAA Tournament appearances. In 1981, the Cowboys were 24–6 and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament. In addition to being the Cowboys' first tournament appearance since 1967, it was their first 20-win season since 1952–53 and first NCAA Tournament victory since 1952. After guiding the Cowboys to the Sweet 16 in 1987, however, Brandenburg left the Cowboys to become the coach at conference rival San Diego State.^[3] He was replaced by Benny Dees, who went 26–6 in his first year with the Cowboys and returned them to the NCAA Tournament where they lost in the first round of the 1988 NCAAs to Loyola-Marymount.

Larry Shyatt went 19–9 in 1997–98, his only season in Laramie before becoming the head coach at Clemson University. After his departure, Steve McClain took over the head coaching job and had three consecutive 20-win seasons from 2001 to 2003, including conference titles in 2001 and 2002 and an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2002. On March 22, 2007, Wyoming hired former Portland State head coach Heath Schroyer to become its next head coach. Shyatt was hired yet again as Wyoming's head coach after the 2010–11 season ended due to the firing of Heath Schroyer.^[4] The 2010–11 team's top two scorers left the program^[5] afterwards, with Desmar Jackson and Amath M'Baye transferring to Southern Illinois University^[6] and the University of Oklahoma,^[7] respectively.

The Cowboys went 21–12 in Shyatt's first season, for their first 20–win season in 9 years.^[8] They made the College Basketball Invitational each of the next three seasons,^[9]^[10]^[11] making the quarterfinals in 2012 and 2013. In the 2014–15 season, the Cowboys finished with a record of 25–10, won the Mountain West Conference Tournament over San Diego State 45–43, and earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.^[12] Larry Nance, Jr. was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers with the 27th pick in the 2015 NBA draft, becoming Wyoming's first player selected in the draft since Theo Ratliff in 1995. On March 21, 2016, Shyatt announced his resignation from the head coaching job,^[13] and Allen Edwards was announced as the 21st head coach in program history.

Head coaching records


Coach	Tenure	Seasons	Record	Win Pct.
W. Yates	1904–1906	2	4–2	.667
Lt. Coburn	1906–1908	2	5–7	.417
Elmer Hoefer	1908–1909	1	3–3	.500
Harold I. Dean	1909–1912	3	9–13	.409
Leon Exelby	1912–1913	1	2–5	.286
Ralph Thacker	1913–1915	2	3–7	.300
John J. Corbett	1915–1924	9	39–41	.488
Stewart Clark	1924–1928	4	44–26	.629
George McLaren	1928–1930	2	29–12	.707
Willard Witte	1930–1939	9	135–52	.722
Everett Shelton	1939–1959	20	328–201	.620
Bill Strannigan	1959–1973	14	179–187	.489
George Radovich	1973–1976	3	24–55	.304
Don DeVoe	1976–1978	2	29–25	.537
Jim Brandenburg	1978–1987	9	176–97	.645
Benny Dees	1987–1993	6	104–77	.575
Joby Wright	1993–1997	4	53–60	.469
Larry Shyatt	1997–1998	1	19–9	.679
Steve McClain	1998–2007	9	157–115	.577
Heath Schroyer	2007–2011	4	49–68	.419
Larry Shyatt	2011–2016	5	98–69	.587
Allen Edwards	2016–Present	1	5–2	.714
Totals	21 coaches	113 seasons	1493–1133	.569

Postseason

NCAA tournament results

The Cowboys have appeared in the NCAA Tournament 15 times. Their combined record is 9–20. They were National Champions in 1943.

Year	Seed	Round	Opponent	Results
1941		Elite Eight Regional 3rd Place Game	Arkansas Creighton	L 40–52 L 44–45
1943		Elite Eight Final Four National Championship Game	Oklahoma Texas Georgetown	W 55–50 W 58–54 W 46–34
1947		Elite Eight Regional 3rd Place Game	Texas Oregon State	L 40–42 L 46–63
1948		Elite Eight Regional 3rd Place Game	Kansas State Washington	L 48–58 L 47–57
1949		Elite Eight Regional 3rd Place Game	Oklahoma A&M Arkansas	L 39–40 L 48–61
1952		Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight	Oklahoma City Santa Clara	W 54–48 L 53–56
1953		Sweet Sixteen Regional 3rd Place Game	Santa Clara Seattle	L 52–67 L 64–80
1958		Round of 24	Seattle	L 51–88
1967		Sweet Sixteen Regional 3rd Place Game	UCLA Texas Western	L 60–109 L 67–69
1981	#5	Round of 48 Round of 32	#12 Howard #4 Illinois	W 78–43 L 65–67
1982	#8	Round of 48 Round of 32	#9 USC #1 Georgetown	W 61–58 L 43–51
1987	#12	Round of 64 Round of 32 Sweet Sixteen	#5 Virginia #4 UCLA #1 UNLV	W 64–60 W 78–68 L 78–92
1988	#7	Round of 64	#10 Loyola Marymount	L 115–119
2002	#11	Round of 64 Round of 32	#6 Gonzaga #3 Arizona	W 73–66 L 60–68
2015	#12	Round of 64	#5 Northern Iowa	L 54–71

NIT results

The Cowboys have appeared in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) eight times. Their combined record is 7–8.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
1968	First Round	Villanova	L 66–77
1969	First Round	Army	L 49–51
1986	First Round Second Round Quarterfinals Semifinals Championship Game	Texas A&M Loyola Marymount Clemson Florida Ohio State	W 79–70 W 99–90 W 62–57 W 67–58 L 63–73
1991	First Round Second Round	Butler Colorado	W 63–61 L 75–83
1998	First Round	Gonzaga	L 55–69
1999	First Round Second Round	USC Oregon	W 81–77 L 72–93
2001	First Round	Pepperdine	L 69–72
2003	First Round Second Round	Eastern Washington North Carolina	W 78–71 L 74–90

CBI results

The Cowboys have appeared in the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) four times. Their combined record is 2–4.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
2009	First Round	Northeastern	L 62–64
2012	First Round Quarterfinals	North Dakota State Washington State	W 76–75 L 41–61
2013	First Round Quarterfinals	Lehigh Western Michigan	W 67–66 L 67–75 ^OT
2014	First Round	Texas A&M	L 43–59

National Campus Basketball Tournament results

The Cowboys appeared in the only National Campus Basketball Tournament. Their record is 1–2.^[14]

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
1951	Quarterfinals Semifinals 3rd Place Game	Duquesne Bradley Utah	W 78–61 L 63–77 L 52–55

Records vs. Mountain West Opponents

Opponent	Wins	Losses	Pct.	Streak
Air Force	75	36	.676	L 1
Boise State	13	10	.565	L 2
Fresno State	9	14	.391	L 3
Colorado State	133	92	.591	W 5
Nevada	13	4	.765	L 2
UNLV	17	36	.321	L 1
New Mexico	66	67	.496	W 1
San Diego State	40	39	.506	L 2
San Jose State	9	2	.818	W 1
Utah State	48	26	.649	L 1

Team Records

Career Leaders

Source:^[15]

Career Scoring Leaders
Seasons	Player	Points
1985–88	Fennis Dembo	2,311
2006–09	Brandon Ewing	2,168
1963–65	Flynn Robinson	2,049
1985–88	Eric Leckner	1,938
2013–16	Josh Adams	1,819
1989–92	Reginald Slater	1,809
1978–81	Charles Bradley	1,744
1995–98	Jeron Roberts	1,599
1968–70	Carl Ashley	1,598
1967–69	Harry Hall	1,595

Career Rebounding Leaders
Seasons	Player	Rebounds
1989–92	Reginald Slater	1,197
1998–02	Josh Davis	956
1985–88	Fennis Dembo	954
1994–97	HL Coleman	939
1964–66	Leon Clark	889
1979–82	Bill Garnett	840
1978–81	Kenneth Ollie	833
1968–70	Carl Ashley	818
2012–15	Larry Nance, Jr.	807
1985–88	Eric Leckner	774

Career Assists Leaders
Seasons	Player	Assists
1984–88	Sean Dent	502
2006–09	Brandon Ewing	471
2002–05	Jay Straight	453
1999–03	Chris McMillian	434
1985–88	Fennis Dembo	410
2013–16	Josh Adams	398
1980–83	Mike Jackson	357
2006–08	Brad Jones	351
2010–12	JayDee Luster	344
1998–01	Brett McFall	307

Career Blocks Leaders
Seasons	Player	Blocks
1992–95	Theo Ratliff	425
2005–06	Justin Williams	244
1998–01	Josh Davis	173
1985–88	Eric Leckner	164
2012–15	Larry Nance, Jr.	135
1989–92	Reginald Slater	100
1979–82	Bill Garnett	97
2008–11	Djibril Thiam	95
1985–88	Fennis Dembo	95

Career Steals Leaders
Seasons	Player	Steals
1984–88	Sean Dent	249
1985–88	Fennis Dembo	176
2006–09	Brandon Ewing	161
1995–97	LaDrell Whitehead	150
2013–16	Josh Adams	144
2012–15	Larry Nance, Jr.	141
1999–02	Josh Davis	140
1999–03	Chris McMillian	136
2002–05	Jay Straight	126
2000–03	Marcus Bailey	113

Career Games played Leaders
Seasons	Player	Games
2013–16	Josh Adams	131
1985–88	Eric Leckner	131
1985–88	Fennis Dembo	129
1985–88	Turk Boyd	129
1985–88	David Lodgins	128
1984–88	Sean Dent	127
2006–09	Brandon Ewing	126
2009–12	Adam Waddell	124
2012–15	Larry Nance, Jr.	123
1989–92	Reginald Slater	121
1989–92	Tim Breaux	121

Single–Season Leaders

Single–Season Scoring Leaders
Season	Player	Points
2015–16	Josh Adams	740
1964–65	Flynn Robinson	701
1986–87	Fennis Dembo	689
1962–63	Flynn Robinson	682
1963–64	Flynn Robinson	666
1987–88	Fennis Dembo	653
1955–56	Joe Capua	637
1986–87	Eric Leckner	634
2006–07	Brandon Ewing	616
1990–91	Reginald Slater	613

Single–Season Rebounding Leaders
Season	Player	Rebounds
1990–91	Reginald Slater	331
2005–06	Justin Williams	329
1989–90	Reginald Slater	328
1991–92	Reginald Slater	328
1964–65	Leon Clark	315
1952–53	Ron Rivers	314
1996–97	HL Coleman	303
1965–66	Leon Clark	302
1951–52	Dick Haag	293
1986–87	Fennis Dembo	282

Single–Season Assists Leaders
Season	Player	Assists
1986–87	Sean Dent	183
2008–09	Brandon Ewing	166
1985–86	Sean Dent	166
2004–05	Jay Straight	148
1991–92	Maurice Alexander	147
2006–07	Brad Jones	135
1998–99	Chris McMillian	130
1991–92	Mike Jackson	129
1992–93	David Murray	128
2015–16	Josh Adams	127

Single–Season Blocks Leaders
Season	Player	Blocks
2005–06	Justin Williams	163
1994–95	Theo Ratliff	144
1992–93	Theo Ratliff	124
1993–94	Theo Ratliff	114
2004–05	Justin Williams	81
1989–90	Reggie Page	60
2013–14	Larry Nance, Jr.	55
2012–13	Leonard Washington	55
2000–01	Josh Davis	54
1999–00	Josh Davis	50

Single–Season Steals Leaders
Season	Player	Steals
1985–86	Sean Dent	93
1986–87	Sean Dent	75
1995–96	LaDrell Whitehead	70
2010–11	Desmar Jackson	61
1987–88	Sean Dent	61
1998–99	Anthony Blakes	59
1990–91	Maurice Alexander	58
2011–12	Luke Martinez	54
1993–94	David Murray	53
1998–99	Chris McMillian	52

Retired Jerseys

Retired Basketball Jerseys
Number	Player	Year
4	Kenny Sailors	1940–43, 1945–46

Arena

Main article: Arena-Auditorium

The Arena-Auditorium, which seats 11,612, serves as the home court for the Cowboy basketball team. Since its opening in 1982, the Cowboys have enjoyed a strong homecourt advantage at the AA.

Wyoming's first home court was a small, red brick building known as the "Little Red Gym." That was followed by the Half Acre Gym, which served as the Cowboys' home from 1925 to 1951 and seated just over 4,000; the Cowboys had a record of 222-44 in the building. The Cowboys moved into War Memorial Fieldhouse in 1951 and remained there until the Arena-Auditorium opened in 1982.^[2]

References

↑ Wyoming Athletics Style Guide (PDF). Retrieved 2016-03-28.
1 2 "The Wyoming Way" (PDF). Grfx.cstv.com. Retrieved 2015-07-01.
↑ "SPORTS PEOPLE - Wyoming Coach Exits". The New York Times. 1987-03-25. Retrieved 2015-07-01.
↑ "Columns - CBSSports.com". Sportsline.com. 2015-06-26. Retrieved 2015-07-01.
↑ "Wyoming Cowboys' Desmar Jackson, Amath M'Baye won't return to team next season". Sports.espn.go.com. 2015-01-07. Retrieved 2015-07-01.
↑ "Wyoming guard Desmar Jackson transfers to Southern Illinois - Southern Illinois University Official Athletic Site". Siusalukis.com. 2011-04-13. Retrieved 2015-07-01.
↑ "Wyoming F Amath M'Baye Transferring to Oklahoma". Cowboyaltitude.com. 2011-04-18. Retrieved 2015-07-01.
↑ "Cowboys Clinch 20th Win with 71–59 Victory Over TCU". GoWyo.com. February 28, 2012. Retrieved March 21, 2016.
↑ "Wyoming Earns Postseason Berth in College Basketball Invitational". GoWyo.com. March 11, 2012. Retrieved March 21, 2016.
↑ "Wyoming Earns Postseason Berth in College Basketball Invitational". GoWyo.com. March 17, 2013. Retrieved March 21, 2016.
↑ "Wyoming Accepts Third-Straight College Basketball Invitational Bid". GoWyo.com. March 16, 2014. Retrieved March 21, 2016.
↑ "Wyoming Upsets No. 25 San Diego State, 45-43, to Earn First NCAA Bid Since 2002". GoWyo.com. March 14, 2015. Retrieved March 21, 2016.
↑ Holmgren, Ryan (March 21, 2016). "Larry Shyatt resigns after six season at Wyoming". Casper Star-Tribune.
↑ "National Campus Tournament 1951". Luckyshow.org. Retrieved 2015-07-01.
↑ "2015–16 Wyoming Cowboys Media Guide" (PDF). University of Wyoming.

External links

Official website

Wyoming Cowboys basketball

Venues	Half Acre Gym (1928–1951) War Memorial Fieldhouse (1951–1982) Arena-Auditorium (1982–present)

Rivalries	Colorado State

Culture & lore	History "Ragtime Cowboy Joe"

People	Head coaches

Seasons	1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17

Helms and NCAA national championships in bold

University of Wyoming

Colleges	Law

Athletics	Basketball Men Women Football

Facilities	American Heritage Center Arena-Auditorium Half Acre Gym Old Main Red Buttes Observatory War Memorial Stadium Wyoming Infrared Observatory Wyoming Territorial Prison State Historic Site

Media	Owen Wister Review

Mountain West Conference men's basketball

Teams	Air Force Falcons Boise State Broncos Colorado State Rams Fresno State Bulldogs Nevada Wolf Pack New Mexico Lobos San Diego State Aztecs San Jose State Spartans UNLV Runnin' Rebels Utah State Aggies Wyoming Cowboys

Championships & awards	Mountain West Conference Men's Basketball Tournament Player of the Year

Seasons	1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16

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