Wyoming basketball tips off in about a month and if senior forward, preseason player of the year in Mountain West, Larry Nance Jr. is healthy Wyoming could have the best team in the “Shyatt era” and a team that can not only compete for a Mountain West Championship but an NCAA Tournament berth as well.
“It is pretty simple. I want to go to the NCAA Tournament,” head coach Larry Shyatt said. “There are more important things however. Like the growth and development of our five freshman and sending our seniors out on a good note.”
Wyoming welcomes back six seniors, three of which started (Nance, guard Riley Grabau and forward Derek Cooke Jr.), to their roster while adding four talented freshmen.
The big question on almost everyone’s mind going into this season is the health of Nance. Whether or not he plays this year drastically alters preseason expectations.
“I feel great,” Nance said. “I feel awesome and I am getting my confidence back. We do not have a time table yet. I want to be super, ultra conservative.”
Both Nance and Grabau averaged double figures in points at 15 and 10 points respectively. Another returning double figure scorer is junior guard Josh Adams who averaged 13 points per game last year. On the glass Nance averaged nine rebounds a game and Cooke ripped down six boards a game.
There is a lot of potential with this years’ team but an x-factor out there might be the maturity and growth of Josh Adams as a “go-to guy”. Adams had flashes of brilliance last year with his defense and high-flying dunks, but he really came into his own when Nance went down. Grabau’s 3-point jumper had gone cold and Adams took over this team offensively. Adams over the last six games of the 2014 season averaged 20 points per game showing off all his offensive skills from driving to the hoop to consistently hitting the 3-point jumper. This will be invaluable to Wyoming this season because if Nance is having an off night or gets into foul trouble Adams can step in and be the alpha dog.
“Josh is very unselfishness and his teammates respect that,” Shyatt said. “He goes so hard and in this day in age you would never trade that.”
The starting lineup – assuming Nance is healthy – looks to be Grabau at point, Adams at shooting guard, redshirt senior Charles Hankerson Jr. at the shooting forward, Cooke as the power forward and Nance as the center.
Nance is a shoe in for a double-double each and every night. He can shoot, he can rebound, he can set up other teammates, he plays outstanding defense and he has an immeasurable basketball IQ. Grabau is a solid point guard that is one of the best spot up shooters in the country. He has a very low turnover to assist ratio, which makes for a solid point guard in the Mountain West. Hankerson is a big-bodied shooting forward that finds much success in driving to the hoop and setting up other teammates, and still possesses the capability to shoot from the outside. Cooke, who still only has a few years of basketball under his belt, has improved vastly in his two years at Wyoming. Expect more growth out of Cooke, with high energy and an around-the-rim type player.
Coming off the bench the Cowboys have sophomore Trey Washington at the point guard position. Washington’s scoring ability, defensive mentality and quickness give the Pokes a valuable point guard off the bench. Another guard who has shown ability to run the offense is walk-on Jack Bentz who is solid at running the offense, setting up teammates, and hitting the occasional big shot.
The Cowboys will also have redshirt freshman Alan Herndon and redshirt sophomore Jason McManamen available as they are coming off their redshirt year. Herndon looks to create match-up problems with his 6 feet 10 inches height and his ability to hit the outside shot. He describes himself as a “stretch four” and says, “If he is open at the three point line and gets the ball that the shot is going up.”
“Those two gentleman made a wise decision,” Shyatt said. “[Herndon] plays to as high a basketball intellect that I have ever had for a freshman.”
“[McManamen] carries himself with a little more confidence now,” Shyatt added. “He has taken care of the two things he needed and that was getting in better condition and weight training.”
Shyatt says that there is a possibility to see Herndon, Cooke and Nance on the floor at one time. That will make to very difficult for teams to score inside.
“That lineup will definitely make people think twice about coming inside on us,” said Herndon.
As far as the freshman go, this is Shyatt’s strongest class and expect a couple of them to play as freshman.
Johnathan Barnes, who is 6 feet 10 inches 240 pounds, has the body to play at the college level but will he have the basketball IQ yet remains to be seen. Another big man Tyrell Williams also has a college body at 6’8 225 pounds, but the same questions for Barnes applies to Williams as well. If both of these big guys play, or even just one, it will be valuable in saving the legs of Cooke and Nance down low. Alex Gorski from Sweden played in the under 19 Swedish National team and has good size at 6 feet 5 inches for his position at the small forward. He can shoot the ball very well and expect him to play this year sharing time with McManmen backing up Hankerson at the three spot. Jeremy Leiberman is a talented point guard that possesses a very quick accurate shot. He will compete for playing time in the very crowded Cowboy backcourt.
“These [freshmen] have a level of patience,” Shyatt said. “Lieberman and Gorski are learning from Adams and Grabau. Barnes and Williams are learning from Cooke, Nance and Sellers. It is unique to Wyoming and you do not see that in a lot of places that I have coached.”
“We have good mix of kids from everywhere,” Nance added. “They have been great in asking questions. This freshman group is going to be special.”
Wyoming’s schedule is a little beefier than it has been in years past. NCAA Tournament teams like Cal, SMU, Colorado and New Mexico State are all on the non-conference portion of the Cowboys’ schedule.
As for the Cowgirls expect to see an experienced and seasoned backcourt led by seniors Kaitlyn Mileto and preseason Mountain West player of the year Kayla Woodward. The frontcourt for the Cowgirls is very inexperienced and could see many freshman logging valuable minutes.
The Cowboys will tip off the season at 2 p.m. on Nov. 16 versus Northern Colorado at the Arena Auditorium. The Cowgirls will open at 7 p.m. on Nov. 17 versus Western State in the Arena Auditorium.
