Wyoming NCAA Tourney Teams -- Head-to-Head

[POKE FAN]

In honor of NCAA Tourney week, here are some solid Cowboys teams who made it to the Big Dance (and had success -- or MAY have success). Who would win a round robin event between these squads? (* - starters)

1980-81 Pokes (24-6)
#5 seed in the West -- Beat Howard 78-43, lost to #4 Illinois 67-65

Roster:
Charles Bradley*
Bill Garnett*
Ken Ollie*
Mike Jackson*
Chris Engler*
Greg Thesenvitz
Anthony Johnson
Mark Wrapp
Dwight McClendon
Bob Ladouceur

1986-87 Pokes (24-10)
#12 seed in the West -- Beat #5 Virginia 64-60, beat #4 UCLA 78-68, lost to #1 UNLV 92-78

Roster:
Eric Leckner*
Fennis Dembo*
Jon Sommers*
Turk Boyd*
Sean Dent*
Reggie Fox
Willie Jones
Dave Lodgins
Mike Amundson
Rod Tyson
Tim Hunt

2001-02 Pokes (22-9)
#11 seed in the West -- Beat #6 Gonzaga 73-66, lost to #3 Arizona 68-60

Roster:
Marcus Bailey*
Josh Davis*
Uche Nsonwu-Amadi*
Donta Richardson*
Jay Straight*
Paris Corner
Joe Ries
David Rottinghaus
Ugo Udezue
Ronell Mingo
Alex Dunn
Chris McMillian
Brandon Dickerson

2014-15 Pokes (25-9)
#12 seed in the East -- #5 Northern Iowa on deck

Roster:
Larry Nance Jr.*
Josh Adams*
Riley Grabau*
Derek Cooke Jr.*
Charles Hankerson Jr.*
Alan Herndon
Jason McManamen
Jack Bentz
Jeremy Lieberman
Alexander Aka Gorski
Jonathan Barnes

 

[Cosmic Cowboy]

How about our recent trend of needing a Wyoming kid on the team to make the NCAA? I was thinking about this and wanted to post about it. We really should try to have a Wyoming kid on the team at all times. I know that there isn't always a D-1 kid in the Wyoming hoops scene every year but there's gotta be one at least every 4 years right? Think of the huge moments Jason has given us this year and just that understanding of what the Wyoming Cowboys mean to the state. We need that kind of representation in the locker room if possible imo.

Also...who would win between these teams in fantasy/dream land showdowns? I think our 02 team might beat the 2015 team but, this team is better coached. That would be a hell of a game! Josh Davis vs Nance? Who guards Adams? Who guards Bailey? DC vs Uche? Ohhhh man I wish the world could work like a video game sometimes ahahah. Those 80's teams might have the edge over them all though, well coached plus all timers on the team. Thoughts?

 

[djm19]

Marcus Bailey was a special player. I love this year's team, but Bailey was someone who could literally take over the game. Game after game.

I say 02 > 15

 

[Cosmic Cowboy]

Marcus Bailey was a special player. I love this year's team, but Bailey was someone who could literally take over the game. Game after game.

I say 02 > 15

Yeah after the match ups have settled into place Bailey would be the guy that it'd be like wait....."who stops him". That 02 team didn't need much coaching because they were soooooo talented and Bailey was a floor general. I think 02 wins over 15 with some mismatch advantages but damn this 15 team has tons of togetherness/grit/organization plus some really special players. 02 was deeper too and that might be the deciding factor. I feel like the 02 team could be able to handle Nance more as an over all unit with Mingo coming off the bench. Sooner or later they'd take over the paint.

 

[WestWYOPoke]

How about our recent trend of needing a Wyoming kid on the team to make the NCAA? I was thinking about this and wanted to post about it. We really should try to have a Wyoming kid on the team at all times. I know that there isn't always a D-1 kid in the Wyoming hoops scene every year but there's gotta be one at least every 4 years right? Think of the huge moments Jason has given us this year and just that understanding of what the Wyoming Cowboys mean to the state. We need that kind of representation in the locker room if possible imo.

Also...who would win between these teams in fantasy/dream land showdowns? I think our 02 team might beat the 2015 team but, this team is better coached. That would be a hell of a game! Josh Davis vs Nance? Who guards Adams? Who guards Bailey? DC vs Uche? Ohhhh man I wish the world could work like a video game sometimes ahahah. Those 80's teams might have the edge over them all though, well coached plus all timers on the team. Thoughts?

It's tough to say. I saw Jason play in high school, and while I thought he was a very good player, I thought it was a pretty big stretch when UW offered him. He has seen a LOT of development over the last 2 years, the staff has done an amazing job in getting him up to D-1 game speed.

Having said that, he was the best player in the state over a 2-3 year period, so I'm not entirely sure we pump out someone D-1 worthy every 4 years. It sounds like the kid from Pine Bluffs certainly has the potential to be special, so hopefully we can snag him.

 

[POKE FAN]

Marcus Bailey was a special player. I love this year's team, but Bailey was someone who could literally take over the game. Game after game.

I say 02 > 15

Yeah after the match ups have settled into place Bailey would be the guy that it'd be like wait....."who stops him". That 02 team didn't need much coaching because they were soooooo talented and Bailey was a floor general. I think 02 wins over 15 with some mismatch advantages but damn this 15 team has tons of togetherness/grit/organization plus some really special players. 02 was deeper too and that might be the deciding factor. I feel like the 02 team could be able to handle Nance more as an over all unit with Mingo coming off the bench. Sooner or later they'd take over the paint.

You two are most likely a little younger and, therefore, would be more familiar with the '02 and '15 squads (based on your comments), but those Brandenburg teams were very well coached -- as are Papa Shy's teams of today. Coach Shy has put up with more misfortune, which has marred overall records/performance to date.

Overall, from top to bottom, the '02 roster was probably the most talented/deepest of the four listed. The Brandenburg teams were physical, hard-nosed and smart. This year's squad? They're disciplined, and I would have a hard time picking against Larry Nance, when healthy. He's an all-timer.

With that said, my verdict is..........I'm still mulling it over.

 

[Wyo2dal]

This is hard for me as I have see all of those teams play at one time or another. Honestly I think the 86-87 Pokes have been the best team by far and away of those listed I just feel like overall between depth and skill positions they are above the rest.

02/15 are very close to each other Bailey was amazing but so is Nance the 02 team had more depth and better shooters but that is about where I have to draw the line.

But man could I build one hell of a team out of those rosters.

 

[wellpoke]

86/87 is probably the best team we've had. The Wyoming link is interesting and worth noting, but I think it's more important to look at the Shyatt connection.

Shyatt effectively recruited at least three of those players on that 2001-2 team (Davis and McMillan, and Ugo, which directly lead to Uche). Yes, McClain had to get them to stay and coach them through the season. But I think you can make a direct case for Shyatt being somewhat responsible for that 2001-2 team.

Without Shyatt, who could be responsible for at least two of the best teams ever, where would Wyoming basketball be?

Looking forward to the game Friday, and glad Wyoming basketball is back.

GO POKES!

 

[seattlecowboy]

The 86-87 and the 80-81 teams are the two best you listed of those 4. It would come down to those two. Probably 86-87. They were very deep.

If Brandenburg would have stayed it would be 87-88 hands down.

 

[seattlecowboy]

Marcus Bailey was a special player. I love this year's team, but Bailey was someone who could literally take over the game. Game after game.

I say 02 > 15

Yeah after the match ups have settled into place Bailey would be the guy that it'd be like wait....."who stops him". That 02 team didn't need much coaching because they were soooooo talented and Bailey was a floor general. I think 02 wins over 15 with some mismatch advantages but damn this 15 team has tons of togetherness/grit/organization plus some really special players. 02 was deeper too and that might be the deciding factor. I feel like the 02 team could be able to handle Nance more as an over all unit with Mingo coming off the bench. Sooner or later they'd take over the paint.

You two are most likely a little younger and, therefore, would be more familiar with the '02 and '15 squads (based on your comments), but those Brandenburg teams were very well coached -- as are Papa Shy's teams of today. Coach Shy has put up with more misfortune, which has marred overall records/performance to date.

Overall, from top to bottom, the '02 roster was probably the most talented/deepest of the four listed. The Brandenburg teams were physical, hard-nosed and smart. This year's squad? They're disciplined, and I would have a hard time picking against Larry Nance, when healthy. He's an all-timer.

With that said, my verdict is..........I'm still mulling it over.

Disagree with this. 86-87 is the deepest of the 4 listed IMO and it isn't really close. I also think the 87-88 team was even deeper but we had Dees as coach so it screwed that year up even though we went to the tournament.

 

[stymeman]

i got to UW in 1988 a year after the Fennis crew left and although I loved Reggie Slater and crew with Benny Dees, man oh man I wish living in Buffalo it wasn't so far to Laramie to go to more games or I was a year older to have seen that fun in Laramie, I only got to see Fennis live once and that was in Casper and the old shootout

 

[POKE FAN]

Marcus Bailey was a special player. I love this year's team, but Bailey was someone who could literally take over the game. Game after game.

I say 02 > 15

Yeah after the match ups have settled into place Bailey would be the guy that it'd be like wait....."who stops him". That 02 team didn't need much coaching because they were soooooo talented and Bailey was a floor general. I think 02 wins over 15 with some mismatch advantages but damn this 15 team has tons of togetherness/grit/organization plus some really special players. 02 was deeper too and that might be the deciding factor. I feel like the 02 team could be able to handle Nance more as an over all unit with Mingo coming off the bench. Sooner or later they'd take over the paint.

You two are most likely a little younger and, therefore, would be more familiar with the '02 and '15 squads (based on your comments), but those Brandenburg teams were very well coached -- as are Papa Shy's teams of today. Coach Shy has put up with more misfortune, which has marred overall records/performance to date.

Overall, from top to bottom, the '02 roster was probably the most talented/deepest of the four listed. The Brandenburg teams were physical, hard-nosed and smart. This year's squad? They're disciplined, and I would have a hard time picking against Larry Nance, when healthy. He's an all-timer.

With that said, my verdict is..........I'm still mulling it over.

Disagree with this. 86-87 is the deepest of the 4 listed IMO and it isn't really close. I also think the 87-88 team was even deeper but we had Dees as coach so it screwed that year up even though we went to the tournament.

To each his own, but in stacking those rosters up side-by-side, I would definitely take '02 on raw talent myself. Coaching is another matter, though.

'87-'88 was tragic in so many ways.

 

[ItSucksToBeACSURam]

How about our recent trend of needing a Wyoming kid on the team to make the NCAA? I was thinking about this and wanted to post about it. We really should try to have a Wyoming kid on the team at all times. I know that there isn't always a D-1 kid in the Wyoming hoops scene every year but there's gotta be one at least every 4 years right? Think of the huge moments Jason has given us this year and just that understanding of what the Wyoming Cowboys mean to the state. We need that kind of representation in the locker room if possible imo.

Also...who would win between these teams in fantasy/dream land showdowns? I think our 02 team might beat the 2015 team but, this team is better coached. That would be a hell of a game! Josh Davis vs Nance? Who guards Adams? Who guards Bailey? DC vs Uche? Ohhhh man I wish the world could work like a video game sometimes ahahah. Those 80's teams might have the edge over them all though, well coached plus all timers on the team. Thoughts?

You look at a couple of our marquee, huge wins being CSU and BSU in the tournament. Without McManimal hitting HUGE, CLUTCH, DAGGER type shots, we may not be sitting where were at right now. I can't say he is a huge contributor for us, but what he does contribute is HUGE. I love that kid.