Wyoming High School Basketball Players

[JimmyDimes]

Myron Chavez could have played at UW. Went to UNLV, then Casper College, and eventually back to the reservation. Great talent and should have stayed in State immediately, might have adapted to college life being closer to home.

I was going to mention him. Growing up in Lander during the WIHS hay days, everyone knew who he was.

 

[SDPokeFan]

The Thermopolis kid you may be thinking of is Jake Schmidt. Recruited by Majerus at Utah and played one season. Majerus stepped down and the new coaching staff did not renew his scholarship. Not sure what happened to him after leaving Utah.

Wyoming really missed on Collins and Smith in the mid-70's. Led Weber State to two consecutive NCAA tourney bids. Another kid around that time that was quite the player was Gary Phipps out of Glenrock. Believe he was D-1 material but had ankle/foot issues that ended his career. Was too bad as he could really play.

No it wasn't the Schmidt kid, the guy I'm thinking was a guard don't think he played d1. For some reason I'm thinking his name was Miller or something.

Nathan Miller. He was right after Schmidt I think. Not sure what happened to him.

That did remind me though of a Wyoming HS player that I completely forgot about which is Michael Dietz. Signed with the Pokes but didn't pan out.

I also forgot to mention Taran Brown, who played quite a bit at UCSB (played against WYO a couple of years ago).

That's the guy Nowhere, as for Dietz, I think he went somewhere in South Dakota. You mention Dietz, reminded me his teammate Tommy Earl went and played at Metro state I think.

Yes Dietz ended up in Rapid City at South Dakota School of Mines & Technology in Rapid City.

 

[Mtpoke89]

Eric Platt from kelly walsh. Went to Wyo had a decent freshman year but then Schroyer took over and he transferred. Averaged 10 points a game his senior year with Northern Arizona but lots of games with lots of 3's.

 

[STJ10]

Interesting post. I have played with a number of these guys mentioned.

1. To compare Sawyer to Sailors is absolutely ludicrous.

2. As far as the best HS player ever from Wyoming goes, that award would go to Demeitreus Drew who graduated from Cheyenne Central in 1991. He was highly-recruited, including by Benny Dees. He could not pass the SAT to attend a DI school and then took the Juco and DII route and then lost focus. Yes, Drew was a better high school player than Johnson or Bailey....hands-down. He would have destroyed either one of those guys in high school.

3. One of the most talented players from Wyoming who nobody seems to remember is Bobby Traylor. If he had not broken his ankle before his senior year and that moron Joby had never been hired, he would have the opportunity to play in the NBA. Joby is a terrible coach. He had talent, but liked to play favorites. Bobby was UW's second-leading scorer his junior year,without starting a single game. This would be like McManamen coming off the bench in favor of Aka Gorski starting. Bobby was 6'7", had handles, could shoot the three, pass the rock, hit the midrange, and could bang in the post with the best of them too (He had 17 pts. and 18 boards at UTEP In 1994, stealing the show in front of the NBA scouts who came to see Ratliff and UTEP's Gillespie). Why nobody ever brings him up as a great player from the state of WY, is totally beyond me. I would have taken him over Marcus Bailey anyday of the week. Fact is, Joby mishandled the talent he had in Bobby. Joby's own players from that era STILL take jabs at him. Not sure how anyone could ever be a Joby fan, considering his own players did not respect him.

I'm not trying to be negative here. Just speaking the truth.