Sundance Wicks hired as UW's next men's basketball coach
May 12—LARAMIE — Sundance Wicks will return to Laramie following one year away from the University of Wyoming men's basketball program.
Wicks, a Gillette native, agreed to a five-year deal to be the school's next head coach following the departure of Jeff Linder, the school announced Sunday in a news release. Linder is expected to join Texas Tech's staff as a top assistant, ESPN's Pete Thamel reported last Thursday.
"If there is one thing I learned growing up in Wyoming, it's that, when you honor the brown and gold, you are honoring so much more than just the University of Wyoming," Wicks said in a news release. "You are honoring every single hardhat that woke up before the sun to work the coal mines. It means paying your respects to the all the rough and rowdy ranchers that chose 'The cowboy way' and rode for the brand before it became a popular phrase.
"Honoring the brown and gold is the understanding that a tip of the cap, a steering wheel wave, a hard handshake or a big hug is how you lift your people up in support of a hard day's work."
Wicks is coming off a 18-14 season and a 13-7 mark in the Horizon League during his first season as a Division I head coach at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. Wicks won the Horizon League coach of the year award and was also named the Joe B. Hall national coach of the year, which honors the best first-year head coach in Division I basketball.
In Wicks' first season at the helm, the Phoenix saw an improvement of 15 wins from the previous season.
"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 (UW athletics director) 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."
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 as an assistant at UW in 2020.
"We couldn't be more excited to welcome back Sundance Wicks to Wyoming," 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."
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.
