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Are we going to compete? Men's hoops question...
- Thread starter McPeachy
- Start date
seattlecowboy
Well-known member
I doubt it. Wyoming isn’t a place where they have ever brought in one class and been able to compete.
It has always been you bring in talent that develops over 2 or 3 years and add a couple of missing pieces with junco’s or a transfer to get you over the hump.
Having to bring in basically a whole new class every year because every good player you have, decides to leave at the end of the year to a bigger school doesn’t help a school like Wyoming at all.
Wyoming’s best teams have been when they have upper class men that have been together for a couple of years.
That will never happen again unless the NCAA gets some rules in place. Or unless Wyoming wants to start paying big money for players.
I don’t think it’s fair for fans to complain about the teams anymore at this point if they are bad because based on the rules with money now, small schools like Wyoming will never be good again unless they start paying big money for players which will never happen.
If you want to spend your money on a ticket to go to the game that’s each persons choice but they need to understand there is a great chance most games Wyoming will be on the losing end because they don’t have the money to compete.
It doesn’t matter who the coach is. This won’t be Sunny’s fault if they lose a lot. It’s the way the system is ran now. Unless all of the fans want to start combining money to pay millions to get the best players then Wyoming will suck. Or unless some huge donor decides to pay for the best basketball players then Wyoming is S.O.L.
I don’t even care anymore. I gave up on worrying about them being good in football or basketball about a year or two ago as I saw the way players get paid now and realized Wyoming was screwed along with other small schools.
It has always been you bring in talent that develops over 2 or 3 years and add a couple of missing pieces with junco’s or a transfer to get you over the hump.
Having to bring in basically a whole new class every year because every good player you have, decides to leave at the end of the year to a bigger school doesn’t help a school like Wyoming at all.
Wyoming’s best teams have been when they have upper class men that have been together for a couple of years.
That will never happen again unless the NCAA gets some rules in place. Or unless Wyoming wants to start paying big money for players.
I don’t think it’s fair for fans to complain about the teams anymore at this point if they are bad because based on the rules with money now, small schools like Wyoming will never be good again unless they start paying big money for players which will never happen.
If you want to spend your money on a ticket to go to the game that’s each persons choice but they need to understand there is a great chance most games Wyoming will be on the losing end because they don’t have the money to compete.
It doesn’t matter who the coach is. This won’t be Sunny’s fault if they lose a lot. It’s the way the system is ran now. Unless all of the fans want to start combining money to pay millions to get the best players then Wyoming will suck. Or unless some huge donor decides to pay for the best basketball players then Wyoming is S.O.L.
I don’t even care anymore. I gave up on worrying about them being good in football or basketball about a year or two ago as I saw the way players get paid now and realized Wyoming was screwed along with other small schools.
This is pretty spot on.
It sucks for coaches like Sunny…coaches that are about building a culture and mentality. That isn’t something you can accomplish in one year.
Sunny was the right coach at the wrong time. I think he would have done special things at Wyoming in the non-NIL era.
LanderPoke
Well-known member
8th place
OrediggerPoke
Well-known member
I think there is upside for 5th place in the MWC with this team. So hard to make predictions based on a brand new roster.
seattlecowboy
Well-known member
I will say, if they did shock us and have a good team that was competitive then I would start to care more for that season and it would be a good surprise that was unexpected.
If there is one upside to the NIL era, it is that I go into the season with absolutely zero expectations. I assume we will probably suck because we don't spend many NIL dollars, but I really have no idea. Being good would be a pleasant surprise.
It's hard to set any expectations, good or bad, when you have an almost entirely new team each year.
Bryoming
Well-known member
The nice thing about basketball is that if you get 2-3 great players you'll have a great team. For example, in 2015 when we won the MW championship we had Larry Nance Jr and Josh Adams. There were good role players (Derek Cooke was a freak athlete, Grabau didn't turn the ball over and was the best free-throw shooter in the country), but those 2 guys made the team.
You could say the same thing about 2022. Hunter Maldonado and Graham Ike were the stars, Drake Jeffries was the glue, and the rest were nice players.
This year's roster has potential for sure. Jared Harris has a high talent ceiling. Leland Walker is a damn good PG that has had a lot of post season success. Adam Harakow has a ton of potential. The question this year is who will be the guys? Who will be those 2-3 players that can put the team on their shoulders and carry them to the win? If we see 2 players that come out and play at an all-MW level we are immediate contenders.
You could say the same thing about 2022. Hunter Maldonado and Graham Ike were the stars, Drake Jeffries was the glue, and the rest were nice players.
This year's roster has potential for sure. Jared Harris has a high talent ceiling. Leland Walker is a damn good PG that has had a lot of post season success. Adam Harakow has a ton of potential. The question this year is who will be the guys? Who will be those 2-3 players that can put the team on their shoulders and carry them to the win? If we see 2 players that come out and play at an all-MW level we are immediate contenders.
But even with Nance and Adam’s, it took them three years before they really hit their stride. Their first two years together were decent but mediocre overall.
Bryoming
Well-known member
Define mediocre. 19 wins is a pretty good season. 20 most years gets you into the tournament.
Their first year together, we went 4-12 in the conference and finished in 8th place. At the conference tournament, we barely beat Nevada in the pigtail game and then got beat handily by New Mexico in the next round. We then went to the CBI and lost in the second round to Western Michigan.
In their second year together, we went 9-9 in conference (6th place) and lost in the first round of the conference tournament to UNLV. Then we went to the CBI again and lost our first game to TAMU.
It really wasn't until that third year where they really started to put things together. Even then, we didn't have a great regular season. We finished 11-7 in the conference (4th place). Of course, winning the conference tournament that year was a fantastic accomplishment.
It took three years of two of the best players we have had in the last 2+ decades playing together before we accomplished anything to be proud of. I would argue their first year together was actually worse than mediocre and the second season was almost the definition of mediocre.
Bryoming
Well-known member
Ah, so you're looking solely at conference records (which is totally fair). In that case I absolutely agree.
