LARAMIE — Both the Wyoming men’s and women’s basketball programs officially tipped off the 2025-26 season this week, as the Cowboys and Cowgirls held their first official practices in Laramie.
The Cowboy men opened Monday with a two-hour session inside the Arena-Auditorium. Head coach Sundance Wicks, entering his second season, said the energy has been building throughout the offseason.
“It has been a long summer and fall,” Wicks said. “I think our guys are kind of ready to get the season going. You have your summer work, you have your preseason work, and now you’re about to get down to the season. I’m excited to see what this team’s ceiling is. I think our floor is pretty high, but I don’t know where our ceiling’s going to be. We’re a completely different team than we were last year, which is going to be unique for Wyoming fans to see. Fans are going to see our speed, skill and some of our athleticism, but that’s got to be coupled with some toughness that we got to keep creating.”
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The Cowboys return two players from last season, forwards Matija Belic and Abou Magassa, and welcome 12 newcomers, including seven transfers. Wicks also added three new coaches: former Cowboy standout Chris McMillian, former Missouri Western head coach Will Martin, and Chris Taylor, who brings international head coaching experience.
Wyoming will first hit the court in an exhibition matchup against Northern Colorado on Oct. 18 at the Pronghorn Center on the campus of Gillette College. The game will be a homecoming for Wicks, who grew up in Gillette.
“This is a really cool deal,” Wicks said. “I have a lot of love for my Gillette folks, and we have so many good people doing work for this event to make it special.”
The Oct. 18 exhibition will also pit Wicks against his former college teammate, Northern Colorado head coach Steve Smiley. The Bears went 25-10 last season, winning the Big Sky Conference regular season title and earning a trip to the NIT.
Wyoming will host The College of Idaho in a second exhibition on Oct. 25 before opening the regular season Nov. 3 against Northern State, Wicks’ alma mater. The non-conference slate includes eight home games, with marquee matchups against Cal State Fullerton (Nov. 8), Austin Peay (Nov. 11), Portland (Nov. 15), and Denver (Nov. 26). The Cowboys will also travel to Sam Houston State (Nov. 19), Texas Tech (Nov. 30), and play a neutral-site contest against South Dakota State in Sioux Falls (Dec. 15).
On the women’s side, the Cowgirls began their fourth season under head coach Heather Ezell with practice Tuesday afternoon. Wyoming is coming off a 22-12 campaign that featured a program-record 14 Mountain West victories and a run to the championship game of the conference tournament.
The Cowgirls will look to replace two of the program’s most decorated players in Allyson Fertig, the Mountain West Player of the Year, and Emily Mellema, the league’s Defensive Player of the Year.
Returning to lead the team is senior guard Malene Pedersen, an All-Mountain West selection who averaged 14 points and 2.9 assists last season while shooting 49 percent from the field and 38.3 percent from 3-point range.
Other returners include Logann Alvar, Lana Beslic, Mikyn Hamlin, Heidur Karlsdottir, Karoline Lundin, Payton Muma, Kati Ollilainen, and Madi Symons. Newcomers feature freshmen Liv Blomkvist (Stockholm, Sweden), Katie Harrington (Victoria, Australia), Jane Rumpf (Denver), and Peyton Wohlford (Smithville, Missouri), along with transfers Aurore Eyango (St. Bonaventure) and Henna Sandvik (Indiana).
The Cowgirls will play their first exhibition Oct. 24 against Fort Lewis at home, followed by a Nov. 4 season opener in Laramie against Saint Mary’s.
