Alex Taylor: Taylor Who should replace Linder at Wyoming?
May 10—Roughly 24 hours after signing his ninth new player in next year's recruiting class, news broke of Jeff Linder's plans to leave the University of Wyoming.
Linder is close to a deal to become a top assistant on Grant McCasland's staff at Texas Tech, according to Pete Thamel of ESPN. The 46-year-old accumulated a 63-59 overall record in his four seasons with the Cowboys, including an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2022.
The Cowboys finished last season 15-17 overall and 8-10 in the Mountain West. Linder was the head coach at the University of Northern Colorado before being hired at UW in 2020.
Assuming the deal goes through, who should UW athletics director Tom Burman call first to replace him? Here are some possibilities:
Ken DeWeese, Wyoming
DeWeese spent all four seasons with Linder at UW as an assistant coach. He was promoted to associate head coach last season and was also on staff with Linder at UNC for four years.
DeWeese is a skilled recruiter and could help retain UW's current roster and incoming class. Student-athletes have a 30-day window to enter the transfer portal following a coaching change, so hiring from within this late in the recruiting schedule could be Burman's safest option.
DeWeese also has the support from rising senior guard Kobe Newton.
"Please don't overthink this (UW athletics)," Newton posted on X on Friday. "(DeWeese) is THE man for the job (and) maybe our only chance to retain our current roster. Make the right choice, please."
Graduated forward Mason Walters also chimed in on social media, referring to DeWeese as a "great person, great coach."
Sundance Wicks, Green Bay
Wicks left his assistant coaching job at UW last spring to take his first Division I head coaching job at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.
One year later, Wicks won the Joe B. Hall national coach of the year award, which honors the top first-year head coach at the DI level in the country. In Wicks' first season at the helm, the Phoenix saw an improvement of 15 wins from the previous year.
Wicks took over a program coming off a 3-29 season, and finished 18-14 overall and 13-7 in the Horizon League.
Wicks is by-and-large the favorite among UW fans to be the Cowboys' next head coach. In a poll I posted on X, 63.4% of voters said Wicks should be the next coach in Laramie. DeWeese garnered 23.5% out of 153 votes (the poll is still ongoing until Saturday), and 12.4% so far had voted for "other."
Born in Gillette, Wicks won two Class 4A state titles at Campbell County and won the Milward Simpson athlete of the year award in 1999. He left a head coaching job at Missouri Western to join Linder's staff at UW in 2020.
Steve Smiley, Northern Colorado
Steve Smiley succeeded Linder in Greeley in 2020 and has compiled a 64-61 overall record, with six postseason wins.
The Bears finished second in the Big Sky last season at 19-14 overall and 12-6 in conference play. Smiley also spent six years as the head coach and athletics director at Sheridan College from 2008-14.
In his six seasons in Sheridan, Smiley was 153-43 and led the Generals to four North Sub-Region 9 championships. He earned North Region coach of the year honors twice.
Would Burman poach a head coach from UNC twice in a row?
Dan Russell, Weber State
Weber State assistant coach Dan Russell also has plenty of Wyoming ties.
After playing two seasons at Casper College, Russell transferred to Black Hills State to finish out his career. He later earned a bachelor's degree from UW while working as a graduate assistant on Heath Schroyer's staff in Laramie.
Russell later returned to Casper College as an assistant coach for five seasons and as the head coach for six more. He posted a 145-52 overall record at the helm for the Thunderbirds.
Russell has experience all around the Big Sky, including stops as an assistant coach at Montana State and Weber State. The Wildcats finished last season 20-12 and 11-7.
Tobin Anderson, Iona
Tobin Anderson soared into the national spotlight two years ago, when his No. 16-seeded Fairleigh Dickinson squad shocked No. 1 Purdue in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.
Anderson's team was the first No. 16 seed to beat a No. 1 seed in tournament history, earning him a new job as Rick Pitino's replacement at Iona last season. The Gaels finished 16-17 and 10-10 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference this winter.
Would UW and Tobin Anderson have mutual interest in each other? No idea, but the longtime coach followed me on X on Thursday night shortly after the Linder news broke.
Steve McClain, Texas
Anderson wasn't my only new X follower after the Linder news broke. Former UW head coach Steve McClain was also on that list, and Cody Tucker of 7220sports.com reported McClain has "great interest" in returning to his old stomping grounds.
McClain led the Cowboys for nine seasons from 1998-2007, posting a 157-115 record. UW won back-to-back MW regular-season titles in 2001 and 2002.
McClain's Cowboys advanced to the Round of 32 in the 2002 NCAA Tournament after upsetting Gonzaga in the opening round. McClain is one of two coaches in UW history to post three consecutive 20-win seasons.
McClain has 14 years of head coaching experience at the DI level, posting a career record of 233-208 (.528%). He's currently an assistant coach at Texas and is 61 years old.
Chris McMillian, Central Michigan
Who says former players can't succeed as coaches at their alma mater?
Chris McMillian, who's in his fourth season as an assistant coach at Central Michigan, led the Cowboys to two MW championships and two NCAA Tournament appearances during his playing career from 1998-2003. He averaged 6.6 points, 3.5 assists and 2.6 rebounds in 125 career games at UW.
While he doesn't have any head coaching experience, McMillian has stops as an assistant at Idaho State and the College of Southern Idaho and was the director of player performance at the University of Illinois at Chicago from 2015-19.
Alex Taylor is the assistant editor for WyoSports and covers University of Wyoming athletics. He can be reached at ataylor@wyosports.net. Follow him on X at @alex_m_taylor22.
