by Keith Kelley–21 Oct ’21
The Wyoming Cowboy basketball team was picked in the lower half of the Mountain West Conference preseason poll. The Pokes were picked tied for eighth with New Mexico.
Colorado State received 11 of 19 first place votes, as the Rams are preseason favorites in the Mountain West for the first time ever. San Diego State got seven first place votes, as the Aztecs were pegged second. Nevada go the other two first place votes, as they were picked third.
Boise State was selected fourth, followed by Utah State and Fresno State. Then it was the Pokes and Lobos, followed by San Jose State, tenth, and Air Force picked last.
Wyoming head coach Jeff Linder says with a full roster this season, he feels confident in their ability to be much better all over the court.
“The ability to practice now, and to be able to have 15 bodies, and to be able to do what we would normally do on a normal year,” Linder said. “Just defensively, our intelligence, and our feel for the game is going to allow us to be so much better. And that was an area our players knew they definitely had to pick up and get better, in order for us to compete in the top half of the league.”
No Cowboys were on the preseason all-conference team, which was made up of Colorado State’s David Roddy, Isaiah Stevens, along with Fresno State’s Orlando Robinson, Grant Sherfield from Nevada, and UNLV’s Bryce Hamilton.
Sherfield was named the preseason player of the year, San Diego State’s Matt Bradley is the newcomer of the year, and the freshman of the year is UNLV’s Keshon Gilbert.
