Cowboys Host College of Idaho on Friday in Exhibition Contest

Nick Seeman, Assistant Athletic Director, Communications University of Wyoming Athletics

Contest starts at 6:30 p.m.

LARAMIE, Wyo. (Oct. 23, 2024) – The Wyoming Cowboys will be in action for the first time this season on Friday hosting the College of Idaho in an exhibition contest at 6:30 p.m. in the Arena-Auditorium.

Wyoming will celebrate the partnership between UW Athletics and the Jae Foundation prior to and during the contest. The Jae Foundation is a leading non-profit focused on mental health awareness and suicide prevention. The Jae Foundation, founded in memory of Jae Bob Bing, focuses on educating the Wyoming and Idaho communities about mental health and suicide prevention, particularly among young people.

The game will be available on the 26 stations of The Cowboy Sports Network with Keith Kelley on the call, Kevin McKinney on color. No stream on the Mountain West Network will be available for the game.

Season tickets are currently available for Cowboy Basketball. Fans may order tickets online, via email or by phone at:
      •Go to GoWyo.com/tickets
      •Email tickets@uwyo.edu
      •Call (307) 766-7220
      •Stop by the UW Athletics Ticket Office on the West Side of the Arena-Auditorium on the corner of Willett Drive and 19th Street.

About The Teams

Head Coach Sundance Wicks is in his first season as head coach of the Cowboys. A native of Wyoming, Wicks is the 23rd coach in school history. He spent three seasons as an assistant at UW leading Wyoming to the NCAA tournament in 2022.

In his only season at Green Bay, Wicks was named the 2023-24 Horizon League Coach of the Year. He was also named the Joe B. Hall National Coach of the Year, which is presented annually to the top rookie, first-year head coach in NCAA Division I college basketball. Green Bay improved in the win column by 15 games for the ninth most in NCAA History. Wyoming welcomes back four-letterwinners and a redshirt from last season's team and welcome nine transfers along with two incoming freshmen.

The Coyotes boasted a 32-4 record last season and made a run to the NAIA Fab Four. College of Idaho won the Cascade Collegiate Conference Regular season title a season ago. The Coyotes head into the season ranked second in the NAIA Preseason Poll.

College of Idaho averaged 86.3 points per game last season and held opponents to 64.2 points per game. The Coyotes shot 48 percent from the field and held the opposition to 39.9 percent from the field. The Yotes also dominated the glass averaging 43.3 rebounds per game.

About The Players

Kobe Newton is the leading returning scorer for the Pokes at 4.5 points per game. He shot 49 percent from behind the arc for the season in 20 games. He missed time with an injury. Oleg Kojenets grabbed 2.5 rebounds per game last season, as he is Wyoming's top returning rebounder.

Touko Tainamo was an All-Summit League selection at Denver last season with 15.2 points per game and 7.7 rebounds. Obi Agbim added 15.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.9 assists. He was an All-RMAC player and All-Region selection at Fort Lewis College. Jordan Nesbitt comes to UW from Hampton University. He has over 1,000 career points with 500 career rebounds and 250 assists. Dontaie Allen recorded 56 three-pointers last season at Western Kentucky. A.J. Wills also made an impact last season as a freshman at Holy Cross.

The Coyotes return their top three scorers from last season. Guard Samaje Morgan averaged 14.3 points per game and 3.9 assists. He also shot 41 percent from behind the arc. Johnny Radford added 12.1 points per game shooting 45 percent from the field. Drew Wyman added 11.4 per contest ad added 4.2 rebounds per game on the season.

About The Jae Foundation

The Jae Foundation is a leading non-profit focused on mental health awareness and suicide prevention. The Jae Foundation, founded in memory of Jae Bob Bing, focuses on educating the Wyoming and Idaho communities about mental health and suicide prevention, particularly among young people. A signature part of their approach involves donating cowboy boots, which serve as conversation starters about real-life issues. Wyoming Athletics and student-athletes are proud to be ambassadors to the Jae Foundation.

The Power of Jae Boots

Some call them Cowboy Boots, some call them Magic Boots – here at the Foundation, we call them Jae Boots. The Foundation was created with the idea that if Jae’s friend Jason had just slowed down and bought his buddy Jae a pair of Cowboy Boots (something Jae loved dearly), had a real conversation about mental health, depression and suicide, and made two commitments, things could have been different.

In a world full of technology and distractions the idea was simple. What if we took an hour out of our day to slow down and share Jae’s story, gift someone a pair of Cowboy Boots, and Check-In and see how they are ACTUALLY doing. Love them up and make some commitments. Once someone gets their Jae Boots, they serve as a reminder to check-in on those around us, be bold enough to have conversations around mental health, and even give us the strength to put our boots on and ask for help if needed.

Creating Boot-Check moments is why the Foundation exists, and the Boot is the ultimate tool to create those moments. We have heard and seen countless stories of how something so simple can do such amazing things. Some call that simple thing a Cowboy Boot, some call it a Magic Boot – here at the Foundation, we call it a Jae Boot.