Wyoming opening could lure UWGB men's basketball coach Sundance Wicks home. But hiring Wicks would come at a cost.

Green Bay, you might have a problem.

The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay men’s basketball team had one of the best turnarounds in NCAA Division I history last season under first-year coach Sundance Wicks.

But despite recently giving Wicks an extension and a significant raise, UWGB could be a bit concerned about losing the Horizon League coach of the year.

Not after next season, but within days or weeks.

A report from ESPN on Thursday night said Texas Tech is closing in on hiring Wyoming coach Jeff Linder as its top assistant.

It would open a potential path back to Wyoming for Wicks, who is from Gillette, Wyoming, and was an assistant under Linder for the Cowboys from 2020 to 2023 before being hired at UWGB last March.

Wicks already has given up a head coaching job to coach at Wyoming. He was at DII Missouri Western for two seasons before joining Linder, saying at the time he had to make the move because it might be a “once in a lifetime thing” for his home state to come calling.

It might just end up being a twice in a lifetime thing if Wyoming decides Wicks is the person to lead the program the way UWGB did.

There certainly will be a cost to make it happen.

The new contract Wicks signed and was officially entered April 10 had significant buyouts that must be paid should Wicks accept another coaching position at the DI level.

If notice is provided any time prior to April 1, 2025, the liquidated damages are $705,000. It goes down to $475,000 in 2026, $350,000 in 2027, $150,000 in 2028 and $50,000 in 2029.

Along with the buyout will come what should be a significant coaching salary. Linder was being paid at least $700,000 per season at Wyoming, and it would make sense Wicks would want roughly the same to leave Green Bay.

Although his extension at UWGB easily made him the highest paid coach in school history, it can’t compare to what Wyoming can offer him.

The original five-year contract he signed when he arrived at UWGB was set to pay him a base salary of $235,000 per season.

Wicks’ revised contract will pay him a gross base salary of $300,000 next season, $325,000 in 2025-26, $350,000 in 2026-27, $375,000 in 2027-28 and $400,000 in 2028-29.

Wicks did not respond to a couple of text messages, while UWGB athletic director Josh Moon did not respond with a comment about potentially losing Wicks.

For Phoenix fans worried about Wicks departing, there are at least a few reasons to keep hope alive that he will stay.

Most importantly, he must actually be offered the job.

He and his wife, Courteney, also genuinely enjoy Green Bay and raising their two young children here. Wicks has immersed himself in the community and at the school, and Phoenix faithful have embraced him back.

“We’ve lived in small towns with hard jobs in cold weather areas,” Wicks said in February. “We are in a great job in a big town with cold weather. So, we get two different out of the three that we have never gotten.

“It’s been awesome. We love it. When you can get into a community, and they accept you and they care about you … It’s hard to beat, man. It really is.”

There is no doubt Wicks’ name will surface plenty the next few days as a possible candidate for the Cowboys.

Whatever his future is, it’s a good bet he will want it decided as quickly as possible.

UWGB still is recruiting players for next season and has three scholarships remaining. Until recruits are comfortable knowing Wicks is staying, it might be difficult to get anybody to commit.

RECRUITING UPDATE: UWGB lands potential gem in 6-10 center Scottie Ebube, a transfer from Southern Illinois

Wicks was asked during the season what would happen if other schools came calling for him based on his early success.

“I don’t placate to that stuff,” Wicks said. “I always say that’s for everybody else to talk about. I don’t get into that crap. I don’t ever focus on that stuff. You don’t mess with happy, right? My family is happy. I’m happy. We are winning. Our team is happy.

“Those are the types of things that I call rat poison for a program, is when people start talking about that stuff.”

People no doubt have now started talking about that stuff.

That’s what happens when you take over a 3-29 team and go 18-14 your first season.

“That speaks to what Sunny has done,” Moon said in February. “You have, literally, the worst team in the country statistically. To be able to come in and do that, it makes the story even more amazing.

“This program was at its arguably lowest point in history. That’s what makes this story so amazing. The job he has done and his staff.”

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Could UWGB men's basketball coach Sundance Wicks leave for Wyoming?