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Wicks Press Conferences

stymeman said:
Just don't understand the lack of want with this team
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Agree. They say this team is better than last year’s team but last year’s team showed fight and determination every game. This team looks like it threw in the towel as soon as conference play started.
 
I was home sick yesterday and couldn't jump on the call. Here are my notes from the recording:
  • White out Saturday night
  • This will be the 245th version of the basketball Border War
  • Both teams are desperate for a win
  • Continues to emphasize to the team how important this game is
  • They did not talk about the Utah State game after the game. They flushed it and got on the plane.
  • Sunny made it a point to call Ali Faroukamesh after Utah State stomped them. Said that no one called him after a loss in his first year.
  • Sunny has a lot of respect for Ali grinding his way to a head coach position
  • We've got 5 very capable shooters that are currently under 28% from three
  • The answer to the scoring issues lies in the work the coaches and players are doing. They both need to do better.
  • Coaches, players, resources, and retention all go into sustained success. You see this at all of the top teams in the country. You've got to invest in the program and the relationships.
  • Relationships matter in retention, but it's not as important as it used to be.
  • You can win for a year and that will make people happy, but sustained success is a foreign concept these days. It's a "microwave society".
  • Chris McMillian is on the scout because he knows how big this rivalry is
  • This rivalry will not die in basketball. Contract negotiations are ongoing. If this doesn't get played next year it won't be on Sunny and the UW athletic department.
  • Sunny committed to playing zone against Utah State. They made the commitment to do that no matter what.
  • Communication on the court hasn't been up to standard. This gets highlighted in raucous environments. He hopes this is an "a-ha" moment for the players.
  • Sunny was pretty humbled by The Herd cheering for Rojas to score his first points
  • Sunny takes complete ownership on the game plan and execution in Logan
  • When asked at what age he knew that CSU was a hated rival growing up in Wyoming, he brought his daughter on to boo and chant "it sucks, to be, a CSU ram" and explained how important it is.
  • The coaches are doing everything they can to get in players faces at practice and get after them. They are really trying to pound into their heads that it's not going to get easier and to simulate game pressure.
  • Players need to commit to the gym to get better, not just check a box of showing up
  • "It's not the shot, it's the sacrifice you put into the shot."
  • Acceptable FG% for a guard is 45%. 3pt is 35%. Bigs need to be at 60% FG. Anything above that is considered a good to great to elite player.
  • Those metrics are tracked through the season and effects the roles of players
  • These 2 teams are very similar
  • We're trying to go from the bottom 3rd to the middle 3rd, but so are CSU, Air Force, San Jose State, and Fresno State.
  • The team that wins will be the team that comes out with more fight on Saturday.
 
Sunny committed to playing zone against Utah State. They made the commitment to do that no matter what.

Congrats, I guess? Meanwhile you're getting destroyed.
 
cowpokeguy said:
Sunny committed to playing zone against Utah State. They made the commitment to do that no matter what.

Congrats, I guess? Meanwhile you're getting destroyed.
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Reading between the lines of what he said and how he said it, they put it on the players to make it work. Sounds like there has been some lackadaisical effort in practice lately.
 
Bryoming said:
Reading between the lines of what he said and how he said it, they put it on the players to make it work. Sounds like there has been some lackadaisical effort in practice lately.
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The players did not make it work. Not even close.

I'm struggling to see how this approach helped the team in any way. Was the idea to teach the team a lesson by letting them get absolutely demolished?
 
Bryoming said:
Reading between the lines of what he said and how he said it, they put it on the players to make it work. Sounds like there has been some lackadaisical effort in practice lately.
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Seems like a bit of a doom spiral here. The players probably don't love a stubborn coach putting it on them to "make it work", therefore he's losing the team and getting lackadaisical effort. Repeat ad nauseam.
 
cowpokeguy said:
Seems like a bit of a doom spiral here. The players probably don't love a stubborn coach putting it on them to "make it work", therefore he's losing the team and getting lackadaisical effort. Repeat ad nauseam.
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I could see how that high energy “in your face” coaching style could wear thin quickly when the losses start to pile up.

Players will buy into almost anything as long as the wins come. When they don’t, they will tune you out quickly - especially in today’s transfer heavy world of college athletics.
 
2/5/2026 Presser Notes:
  • Gold out this Saturday against Utah State
  • Utah State beat New Mexico in The Pit by 22 points
  • Utah State is as good a team as there is in the country right now
  • They're 2 deep at every position with efficient players that produce
  • Wyoming has found their defensive identity again guarding the 3
  • Currently 5-1 in the AA on Saturdays this season
  • There's no simple answer for the defensive fouling issues
  • Different officiating crews call games differently. For example, the CSU game was physical with not many fouls. SDSU was physical with lots of fouls being called. You've got to adapt to how the game is being called.
  • There's an art to adjusting as coaches and players
  • Sunny fights for fairness in officiating. Officials should be consistent with both teams.
  • Plugging a lot of holes right now due to injuries and illnesses
  • The bottom has risen in the MW
  • Seems like we're losing bodies every week
  • Belic and Harris still out for this game
  • Gores questionable due to a hand injury
  • Magassa has an Achilles injury and is doubtful
  • Defense was nonexistent in the last game against Utah State
  • Naz has hit a bit of a wall. Lost 17 pounds in 2 weeks after his concussion and being sick.
  • We need to be more physical, but we have limitations right now. We've got a lot of developmental guys on the roster right now. We need guys to stick around and be in the process to continue to make gains.
  • Guys lose a lot of training opportunities when they transfer
  • There are guys that have that dog in them, but they need time to mature to their potential
  • The scoring droughts can be helped by coaching, but the players need to make the plays
  • Most of our offensive problems come from turnovers, not missed shots
  • Losing all these players hurts. We don't have as many weapons.
  • We're fighting for the first winning season since '22
  • Sunny and his staff preach the process all year long. That's the pitch to both win now and keep the roster intact.
  • They want to make their players better no matter if they stick around or transfer
  • Players that keep leaving tough situations and "chase wins" are a red flag for every team in the country
 
2/12 Presser
  • Neil Summers having a good redshirt year
  • We need to control pace and tempo this weekend
  • Gavin Gores broke his nose in the earlier CSU game this year
  • Naz spent an hour in Sunny's office today just talking
  • Kids transfer because they want coaches that believe in them. Coaches believe in everyone when they're recruiting them, but they need to keep that belief up and push players when they arrive on campus.
  • Damarion Dennis has always been a solid role player, but being pushed into the starting lineup has pushed him to be a better player.
  • Dennis is wired to score
  • Dennis needs to keep mental toughness when he's tired
  • Kiani Saxon is making winning plays that don't necessarily show up on the box score
  • Abou will be available on Saturday
  • Harris, Belic, and Gores are all out
 
Bryoming said:
2/12 Presser
  • Neil Summers having a good redshirt year
  • We need to control pace and tempo this weekend
  • Gavin Gores broke his nose in the earlier CSU game this year
  • Naz spent an hour in Sunny's office today just talking
  • Kids transfer because they want coaches that believe in them. Coaches believe in everyone when they're recruiting them, but they need to keep that belief up and push players when they arrive on campus.
  • Damarion Dennis has always been a solid role player, but being pushed into the starting lineup has pushed him to be a better player.
  • Dennis is wired to score
  • Dennis needs to keep mental toughness when he's tired
  • Kiani Saxon is making winning plays that don't necessarily show up on the box score
  • Abou will be available on Saturday
  • Harris, Belic, and Gores are all out
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I really hope and believe that these kids like what's being (slowly) built at UW and are learning game by game. Sunny is very intense with his kids but I think most of them will stay and see what happens next year...if so and there are/we're flashes of promise with this team...if they stay there's good depth and I feel good things for 26-27, and a shocker come tourney time....strap in cuz these last few games it might just click(for a change)
 
It’s definitely a different team than last year. The results, however, are about equal. A school almost has to hit the lottery to win consistently with the inevitable roster churn. Wyoming just feels like an audition stage to earn bigger money elsewhere.
 
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