NOVEMBER 13, 2024|
Photo – UW Athletics logo – Bigfoot99 file photo
For the Wyoming Cowboy basketball team, the new boss squares off against the old boss tonight in Lubbock, Texas.
Wyoming head basketball coach Sundance Wicks leads the 2-0 Cowboys against Texas Tech University, where former Cowboy head coach Jeff Linder is an assistant.
Linder fled Laramie at the end of last season after the Cowboys finished in eighth place with an 8-10 conference record and 15-17 overall record. In 2022, the Cowboys went 9 of 22 and held down the bottom of the standings in the Mountain West.
Outgoing transfers from the Cowboys last spring were more numerous than the number of flights out of Laramie. In March of last year, the writing was clear. Alex Taylor at Wyo Sports wrote in mid-March, “With six players making the decision to transfer out of the program, fans have started to question Linder’s future in Laramie. Is Linder’s job at UW safe, and should it be?”
The mass exodus of six players from Laramie, including three from California, was a clear sign that trouble was brewing.
Linder’s style of “tough love” coaching worked with a few, but not with most.
Linder had come to Laramie after three consecutive 20-win seasons in his first four years at the University of Northern Colorado. He took over the Cowboys and went 39-20 in his first two seasons. Then the magic carpet ran out of magic. After going to the NCAA tournament in his first year, the magic dried up. Blame it on the coronavirus.
Now the Cowboys head coach, Wicks, joined the staff when Linder was hired in 2020. When the wheels came off in Laramie, Wicks spent a year as head coach at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.
Upon his arrival back in Laramie this spring, Wicks went into overdrive to recruit players to fix the mess left by Linder when he left for Lubbock.
They will meet again tonight at United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock. Wicks said this week of Linder, “I just love him. He’s the reason why I’m here.”
UW is 2-0 after beating Concordia-St. Paul (108-85) and Tennessee State (81-66) at home. The Red Raiders are also 2-and-0. Linder’s job is now drawing up the X’s and O’s for the Texas Tech offense.
It should be a good matchup tonight. Five different Texas Tech players are averaging double figures in scoring, led by forward JT Toppin (22.0 ppg), who transferred from New Mexico after earning co-MW freshman of the year honors last season.
UW’s defensive game plan will have to be air-tight to beat Linder and the Red Raiders, who are receiving votes in the Associated Press poll, after two lopsided wins over smaller schools.
Tipoff is set for six p.m. tonight. Bigfoot 99 will be on the air at 5:30 with the pregame show.
