Sundance Wicks hired as the new head coach at Wyoming
Just days after Jeff Linder resigned, Wyoming has hired a familiar face as its new head men’s basketball coach. The school announced on Sunday that former assistant Sundance Wicks will lead the Cowboys after spending the 2023-24 season as the head coach at Green Bay, where he went 18-14 and was named Horizon League COY.
Wicks is a native of Gillette, WY and spent three seasons on Linder‘s staff with the Cowboys before leaving a year ago.
“First off, please know that I am honored, humbled and immensely grateful for this opportunity at the University of Wyoming,” Wicks said. “This opportunity would have never been possible without the Belief that Green Bay Chancellor Mike Alexander and Athletics Director Josh Moon had in our mission and vision a year ago at UWGB. To that end, I would like to thank Director of Athletics Tom Burman and UW President Edward Seidel for their trust in me and what We will do for the University and this great state moving forward. You cannot put into words what it means for a kid from the country roads outside of Gillette to represent the State of Wyoming and the Cowboys as their new head basketball coach.”
Green Bay’s hire of Wicks was widely considered one of the best of the 2022-23 cycle, as the 43-year-old quickly turned around a Phoenix program that had won a total of 16 games in the three seasons prior to his arrival. It was just his first year as a D-I head coach, with his only prior head coaching experience coming at D-II Missouri Western (2018-20).
Wicks had a rather significant buyout given how recently his deal was signed, but Wyoming will be collecting a significant buyout from Linder and Texas Tech to cover those costs to bring Coach “Sunny” home.
“We couldn’t be more excited to welcome back Sundance Wicks to Wyoming,” AD Tom Burman said. “Sundance will bring a great energy to our program and the entire State of Wyoming. Being a native of this great state, Wicks knows the pride Cowboy fans take in the program and he will work tirelessly for his student-athletes and the community.”
The Cowboys last played in the NCAA Tournament in 2022 when Wicks was still on staff, finishing below .500 in each of the two seasons since then.
credit to Wyoming Athletics for the image
