In a time where countless decisions are viewed through the eyes of money and efficiency, Sundance Wicks and the Wyoming Cowboys elected to buck that trend.
As more and more college basketball programs choose to decline invitations from non-NCAA Tournament postseason events, it has diminished the aura they provide.
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But not for Wicks.
Not for Wyoming.
After the field was announced for the NCAA Tournament on Sunday evening, the National Invitation Tournament, or NIT, began contacting schools to extend invites to the second-biggest postseason tournament the sport has long had for decades.
San Diego State declined the opportunity.
Boise State – the same.
This paved the way for Wyoming to participate beyond the Mountain West conference tournament for the first time since 2022, their last March Madness appearance.
When asked about why they accepted, Sundance Wicks gave a detailed and heartfelt explanation: “We will always accept an invitation to the National Invitation Tournament. If we don’t ever get an NCAA automatic qualifier bid or an at-large bid in March Madness, we’ll always accept this, because it is our civic duty as basketball coaches of basketball players to normalize playing basketball as long as you can, because that’s what we get paid to do nowadays. This is our job.”
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He further added, “My wife can’t just wake up someday and be like, ‘You know what? I’m gonna opt out of teaching today.‘ This is what we need to normalize, and this (NIT) field is outstanding. It is like Mid-Major Madness, and I love it. Kudos to Auburn for accepting the bid. That’s outstanding.”
A final, encapsulating point by Wicks, “We are college basketball coaches. We have a great profession, and we have college basketball players who get paid to play basketball now. We need to normalize playing postseason basketball.”
In a world so focused on “I”, Wyoming prioritizes “we.”
With this, Wyoming will travel to Kansas and take on the Wichita State Shockers on Tuesday night.
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Out of the American Athletic Conference, Wichita State finished second in the AAC with a 13-5 record and an overall mark of 22-11.
Notable familiar opponents include Boise State (WSU lost 62-59 in Boise), Colorado State (WSU lost 76-70 in the Bahamas), and St. Mary’s (Gaels lost to Boise State 70-65).
Against March Madness-bound South Florida, Wichita State split the season series before losing in the AAC final to the Bulls.
The Shockers are currently ranked No. 82 in KenPom.
Their primary scoring threats include guard Kenyon Giles (19.4 pts, 2.6 rbs, and 1.5 asts) and forward Karon Boyd (10.9 pts, 5.8 rbs, and 1.6 asts).
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As a team, the two stats that stand out are their top-30 defensive effective field goal percentage and top-five offensive rebound percentage.
And don’t forget their 7-2 tree in the middle that is Will Berg, a junior from Sweden who leads the Shockers in blocks with 1.4 per game.
This will be a great opportunity for Wyoming to not only extend their season, but to build some momentum heading into the offseason as a new era of Mountain West hoops awaits.
Tomorrow’s game between the Pokes and Wichita State will air on ESPNU at 5:00 p.m. (Mountain Time).
The Shockers are currently favored by 6.5 points.
A win would pit Wyoming against either Oklahoma State or Davidson.
