Wicks putting the pieces together for UW's roster

May 24—LARAMIE — Sundance Wicks hasn't had much time to celebrate since being introduced as the University of Wyoming's men's basketball coach earlier this month.

The former Cowboys assistant was hired to replace Jeff Linder on May 12. He's had to hit the ground running on the recruiting trail after UW lost five commitments following Linder's departure to be an associate head coach at Texas Tech after four seasons in Laramie.

Wicks, who was hired from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, has slowly put together a roster over the past two weeks, including signing four incoming transfers. UW still has three open scholarships remaining out of the allotted 13.

Incoming transfers

Wicks' latest signing was 6-foot-3 guard Obi Agbim, who was a recommitment to UW. Agbim signed with the Cowboys out of NCAA Division II Fort Lewis College in Colorado, but decommitted following Linder's departure.

Wicks was able to re-sign the experienced guard 11 days later.

Agbim spent two seasons at Fort Lewis, one at Northeastern Junior College and one at NCAA Division II Metro State in Denver. Last season, Agbim earned first team All-South Central Region and first team All-Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference honors while averaging 15.5 points, four rebounds and 2.9 assists.

Agbim was also named the RMAC tournament most valuable player. In the RMAC championship game, Agbim recorded a career-high 33 points and was 10-of-12 from the field. He scored 20 or more points seven times last season.

Wicks added three new incoming transfers since being hired at UW, including 6-10 center Scottie Ebube, 6-9 forward/center Cole Henry and 6-6 guard Jordan Nesbitt.

Ebube originally committed to Green Bay, and his commitment followed Wicks to UW. He averaged six points and 3.6 rebounds in 11.5 minutes per game last season at Southern Illinois.

He played in a total of 43 games through two seasons with the Salukis.

Henry also committed to Green Bay before flipping to the Cowboys with Wicks. He spent four seasons at Northern Iowa, averaging three points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 11.1 minutes in 32 games last season.

Nesbitt was Wicks' first signing in his UW tenure. He averaged 10.2 points, 4.9 rebounds and 4.3 assists in 30.4 minutes at Hampton last season. The Saint Louis product started his career at Memphis before spending one season at Saint Louis University and two at Hampton.

The four commitments join a pair of incoming transfers who stuck with UW through the coaching change, including 6-9 forward Touko Tainamo (University of Denver) and 6-7 forward Matija Belic (UC Santa Barbara).

Tainamo averaged 15.2 points and 7.7 rebounds while earning All-Summit League honors as a junior last season. The Finland native comes to UW with one year of eligibility remaining.

Belic, of Serbia, comes to UW with two years of eligibility remaining. He spent the past two seasons at Santa Barbara, appearing in 52 games, with nine starts. Belic averaged 3.9 points in 15.1 minutes last season, adding 2.4 rebounds.

The Cowboys lost a pair of incoming transfers because of the coaching change. 6-10 forward Yuto Yamanouchi-Williams (University of Portland) decommitted from UW but stayed in the Mountain West, signing with Nevada. Tyree Ihenacho, a 6-4 guard, inked with Washington following his decommittment from UW.

Incoming freshmen

The Cowboys also lost a trio of incoming freshmen over the past two weeks. Forward Dylan Warlick (Edmond, Oklahoma), wing Olver Faubert (Ottawa, Ontario) and guard Dominic Pangonis (Burlington, Ontario) all decommitted from the Cowboys following Linder's departure.

Warlick is the only one to sign with another school so far, inking with Saint Louis on Wednesday. Pangonis was "still maintaining Wyoming as an option" when he decommitted May 11, he said on X.

Jehvion Starwood is the lone high school recruit to stick on the roster through the coaching change. The 6-foot-3 guard out of Oswego, Illinois, is the No. 15 recruit in Illinois, and 247Sports.com listed him as the No. 42-ranked guard in the class.

He led his team to a sectional championship and a 29-6 record as a junior at Oswego East High. He was also recruited by Illinois State, Southern Illinois, Miami of Ohio, San Jose State and Denver.

UW's seven newest players will join five returners, including three on scholarship and two preferred walk-ons.

The Cowboys will return guards Kobe Newton and Nigle Cook and forward Oleg Kojenets. Walk-on guards Cort Roberson and Levi Brown also return.

None of the returners made big contributions for UW last season. Newton averaged 4.5 points and 1.9 rebounds in 19.2 minutes, but missed significant time during the conference season with a methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus infection in his right ankle.

Kojenets saw limited action after transferring to UW from Nebraska, averaging 3.7 points and 2.5 rebounds in 9.4 minutes. He scored a career-high 18 points in a home win over San Jose State in January.

Cook played in one game, maintaining his redshirt status. He scored six points and hauled in two rebounds in a win over Northern New Mexico in the season-opener.

Wicks has targeted players who fit his style of play, which includes a brand of basketball centered around toughness, effort, skill and accountability. In today's name, image and likeness landscape, Wicks knows a school like UW has to continue to adapt to stay alive.

That includes accepting that a four- or five-year career in Laramie might not be the norm again anytime soon.

"We need to celebrate and embrace those who come and ride for the brand, whether that is for a year or two or three or four," Wicks said during Tuesday's news conference. "You can look across the whole landscape of college basketball. Longevity with careers is a dying thing.

"... We need to celebrate those who are with us and not be angry about those years that we lost or we lose because guys leave. It's happening all over. I think the more we embrace each potential Cowboy as one of our family members, that could probably win in the end here for longevity if we want to keep someone around for another year or two. I think there is a connection to the community that is still massively relevant."

Wicks was on UW's bench for the Cowboys' NCAA Tournament appearance two years ago. When it comes to roster construction, staying ahead of the curve will play a crucial part in UW's ability to adapt moving forward.

"This is the real world," Wicks said. "People leave for better jobs all the time. People leave for other jobs that maybe aren't better, but it's a better move for their family. They do these things. This is reality. We all want it to be what it was, but it's not, and that's OK. We have to embrace change.

"... We'll get to a point where people want to stay at Wyoming, but we have to embrace that and try to find ways to win in those margins."

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.