Sundance Wicks Sees Bright Future After Cowboys’ NIT Appearance
- Jeff Bugher
- Mar 19
- 4 min read
LARAMIE, Wyo. – It’s Always Sunny in Laramie. "The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades" …Finally got the chance to use that in an article.
Although the song relates to something nuclear...it relates to how bright the future is under Sundance Wicks.
The buzzer blasted inside Koch Arena on Tuesday night, marking the end of the season for Wyoming Basketball. For head coach Sundance Wicks, his quest for building greatness didn’t stop at the buzzer.
Following a 74-70 loss to Wichita State in the opening round of the NIT, Wicks didn’t dwell on the situation. Instead, he was more interested in carrying the Cowboys forward as a team and with individual growth.
Jeff Bugher with PokesNews.com asked Wicks about his perspective on his team’s growth this season during the postgame press conference.
“We're going to have so much great carryover next year with all these experiences these guys got this year,” Wicks said. “That's the thing that I think people undervalue. I know maybe coaches don't undervalue that, but players undervalue these experiences and the translatability that they can have to next year.”
That experience came in many forms, from non-conference battles, postseason, and even the quick NIT turnaround environment that mirrors NCAA tournament basketball.
“Being able to go through a non-conference schedule, being able to go play in post-season basketball, being able to feel what this is like, a quick turnaround on short notice, like playing in the first four,” Wicks said.
The development across the roster stood out most to the second-year head coach, particularly among younger players who were thrust into significant roles.
“The growth that each player's had individually,” Wicks said. “You're talking about Demarion Dennis is a sophomore, right? He was a freshman a year ago. His growth this year… to becoming a junior next year. Then to have freshmen finish the season as strong as Naz [Meyer] and Gavin [Gores] did. You know how hard it is for freshmen to even make it through a season without hitting the wall? These guys are real dudes.”
Consistency will define Wyoming’s approach moving forward.
“So next year we chase consistency over perfection, right?” Wicks said. “I thought we'd play some really perfect games this year that helped us win. But we don't want perfection. I want consistency. We want the same thing over and over again. We want that progression, regression line to just kind of keep slowly trending up.”
From a metrics standpoint, the Cowboys made one of the more notable jumps in the country, climbing significantly over the course of the season.
“From where we started… to where we finished… I think starting off in the 150s and finishing in the top, you know, 98 to 100,” Wicks said. “That's as good a jump as probably any mid-major plus has probably had this year… we're jumping 60 some odd spots from where we started. That's a big deal. That means this team was really good.”
That growth and experience translated into something Wyoming hadn’t experienced in recent years.
“And we were good enough to earn a postseason play in NIT,” Wicks added.
Wicks made sure that growth is at the forefront, even in defeat. After the loss, he made sure that lesson didn’t go unspoken.
“We talked about it in the locker room afterwards. We went around the circle and every single guy had to say something that they learned about themselves or about the team or about the process,” Wicks said. “Because this is a waste as coaches. This is a waste if our guys aren't learning more about themselves.”
“This is a journey of self, self-awareness. Who am I? More importantly, who am I not? What am I not going to compromise?” Wicks said. “What are the hard things that I had to grow through, that I had to go through and grow through to get to this point right now?”
Reflection brought perspective.
“Reflect on your journey. Reflecting on this season is going to be awesome for me,” Wicks said. “Just from where we were last year to our growth points this year.”
For a program that not long ago was searching for direction, Wicks sees the vision he had when he came to Wyoming in 2024: a team trending upward, a locker room evolving, and a culture taking shape.
“What an honor and privilege to be able to coach at the University of Wyoming,” Wicks said, “but to also coach those men in that locker room.”
About the Author:
Jeff Bugher is a third-generation Wyomingite living in Casper. He is a sportswriter and Wyoming Cowboys/Cowgirls enthusiast who is a member of the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA ) and the National Sports Media Association (NSMA). Jeff's work has been cited by Sports Illustrated, one of the world's leading sports publications.
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