Busy day for UW basketball
It was an eventual day Wednesday for Wyoming basketball. Mostly good news, some not so good news.
The only bummer for the Cowboys today was the announcement that junior wing Ryan Dermody is out for an unspecified time with a dislocated left elbow. Dermody, who averaged 9.3 points and 5.3 rebounds a game last season, suffered the injury Wednesday in practice.
“Ryan will meet with the doctors and undergo further test next week,” said UW head coach Heath Schroyer. “Until then, we will not know the extent of his injury.”
Schroyer, however, did have some good news with the letter-of-intent signings of Casper Natrona's Michael Dietz and Thomas Manzano. The two big and athletic guards should fit in in well with the future of Cowboy basketball. Dietz will be a senior at Natrona, while Manzano will play one year at Garden City Community College in Kansas.
For the Cowgirls, Joe Legerski also signed two impressive athletes, 6-foot-1 forward Chaundra Sewell of Broomfield, Colo. and 5-9 guard Sara Wilson of Grant, Neb.
Also on Wednesday, the UW athletics department announced that two new banners will be unveiled in the Arena-Auditorium for the upcoming basketball season.
One banner will honor former Cowboy All-American Kenny Sailors, while the other will commemorate the Cowgirls’ 2008 NCAA Tournament Team.
The banner honoring Sailors will be unveiled prior to the Cowboys’ season opener against Cal State Bakersfield on Friday. The Cowgirl NCAA banner will be hung prior to their home opener on Nov. 20, against North Dakota.
One of the greatest players in Cowboy basketball history, Sailors was a two-time All-American and a two-time national player of the year. Sailors, a Hillsdale native, helped lead the Cowboys to the 1943 NCAA National Championship. He was an All-American in 1943 and again in 1946, after serving his country during World War II. He received the Chuck Taylor award in 1943, which was presented to the most outstanding college player in the nation. He was then named the Helms Foundation player of the year in college competition in 1946. Sailors is also credited with inventing the modern day jump shot.
“This is the most prestigious honor we can provide an individual,” said UW athletics director Tom Burman. “We are thrilled that we can honor Kenny Sailors in this fashion. He has been a tremendous ambassador to Wyoming and to Cowboy basketball.”
The 2007-08 season marked another milestone in the Wyoming Cowgirl basketball program as they advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in the program’s history. They finished with their third straight 20-win season, with a record of 24-7. They also finished with a program best 12 conference victories and a third place finish in the Mountain West.
“This was an historic moment for the Cowgirl basketball program,” added Burman. “It is a tribute to all of the hard work and dedication given by this staff and the student-athletes.”
The only bummer for the Cowboys today was the announcement that junior wing Ryan Dermody is out for an unspecified time with a dislocated left elbow. Dermody, who averaged 9.3 points and 5.3 rebounds a game last season, suffered the injury Wednesday in practice.
“Ryan will meet with the doctors and undergo further test next week,” said UW head coach Heath Schroyer. “Until then, we will not know the extent of his injury.”
Schroyer, however, did have some good news with the letter-of-intent signings of Casper Natrona's Michael Dietz and Thomas Manzano. The two big and athletic guards should fit in in well with the future of Cowboy basketball. Dietz will be a senior at Natrona, while Manzano will play one year at Garden City Community College in Kansas.
For the Cowgirls, Joe Legerski also signed two impressive athletes, 6-foot-1 forward Chaundra Sewell of Broomfield, Colo. and 5-9 guard Sara Wilson of Grant, Neb.
Also on Wednesday, the UW athletics department announced that two new banners will be unveiled in the Arena-Auditorium for the upcoming basketball season.
One banner will honor former Cowboy All-American Kenny Sailors, while the other will commemorate the Cowgirls’ 2008 NCAA Tournament Team.
The banner honoring Sailors will be unveiled prior to the Cowboys’ season opener against Cal State Bakersfield on Friday. The Cowgirl NCAA banner will be hung prior to their home opener on Nov. 20, against North Dakota.
One of the greatest players in Cowboy basketball history, Sailors was a two-time All-American and a two-time national player of the year. Sailors, a Hillsdale native, helped lead the Cowboys to the 1943 NCAA National Championship. He was an All-American in 1943 and again in 1946, after serving his country during World War II. He received the Chuck Taylor award in 1943, which was presented to the most outstanding college player in the nation. He was then named the Helms Foundation player of the year in college competition in 1946. Sailors is also credited with inventing the modern day jump shot.
“This is the most prestigious honor we can provide an individual,” said UW athletics director Tom Burman. “We are thrilled that we can honor Kenny Sailors in this fashion. He has been a tremendous ambassador to Wyoming and to Cowboy basketball.”
The 2007-08 season marked another milestone in the Wyoming Cowgirl basketball program as they advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in the program’s history. They finished with their third straight 20-win season, with a record of 24-7. They also finished with a program best 12 conference victories and a third place finish in the Mountain West.
“This was an historic moment for the Cowgirl basketball program,” added Burman. “It is a tribute to all of the hard work and dedication given by this staff and the student-athletes.”
Comments