(Zach Agee Photo)
Wyoming men’s basketball head coach Sundance Wicks knows just how difficult it is to build a competitive basketball program–and how even more challenging it is to sustain one.
Wyoming has mostly taken a backseat in the Mountain West conference when it comes to poising itself at the top of the league. Powerhouses such as San Diego State, Utah State or New Mexico have all owned that distinction for the past few decades.
From investment, fan support, resources, belief and buy-in, all three of those programs have it all–creating some of the best environments in not only the Mountain West, but the entire nation.
“I think that’s what makes places and programs special, is that they invest in their coaches, they invest in the retention of their players, they invest in the resources to help with the retention of their players, they invest in their facilities,” Wicks said
“There’s a lot of investment that has to go on with everybody involved.”
Utah State gave this year’s Cowboy squad a hard lesson in what all of those things combined together can create. A raucous sold-out crowd at the Dee Glenn Smith Spectrum in Logan, Utah completely overwhelmed the Cowboys as the Aggies squashed the Cowboys 94-62. The entire night laughably culminated in the Utah State student section cheering for the Cowboys to score once the game was clearly out of reach.
Seeing is believing, as they say.
“For the first time in my life, I’d seen a student section cheer for an opposing player to score his first points,” Wicks said. “And to that, I say, that’s a slice of humble pie. That’s different.”
VERY elite student section at Utah State.
— Ryan Hammer🔨 (@ryanhammer09) January 29, 2026
Shoutout to the Hurd🤘@USUBasketball pic.twitter.com/U3jiQwFOAa
The Cowboys recently got a taste of what that same sort of atmosphere could be like in Laramie in the coveted Border War against Colorado State, a game the state shows out for no matter what. A season-high contingent of 6,384 fans ushered into the Arena-Auditorium and transformed it back into its old moniker–the Dome of Doom.
That ignited the Cowboys, who would put on a show for their home crowd in a dominating 68-57 victory over the Rams.
“I think I just learned how much the state rallies around this Border War,” junior guard Khaden Bennett said after the win. “Hopefully they can continue to support us after this.”
For Our State 🤠🦬 pic.twitter.com/gq4EmFEm2F
— Wyoming Cowboy Basketball (@wyo_mbb) February 3, 2026
That type of win is undoubtedly the kind that goes a long way in starting a winning culture and bringing back the crowds of old. However, Wicks and his staff still don’t have the same level of investment that some of the top teams in the league do, making it difficult to truly build off a win like that. So, what can they do to keep themselves afloat amongst such a volatile era of college basketball?
“There’s got to be an investment in the relationships, because if you don’t have some of the latter, then your relationships got to be pretty good, and you’re hoping that your relationship beyond a shadow of doubt would be the one thing that keeps your players coming back,” Wicks said.
“Nowadays, we know that as good as your relationships can be, it’s not quite matching on a certain level somewhere else and you’re probably not going to be able to retain them.”
The most important relationship for this program may not be one that comes from within, but rather the bond it shares with the entire state of Wyoming as the only D-I collegiate team in the state. That relationship itself could play a major factor in player retention if the state continues to show out for Wicks’ team.
A crowd of 6,000 plus fans in the seats every game night at the Arena-Auditorium could go a long way in building the Wyoming basketball program back up to championship status.
