NCAA Basketball: 3 way-too-early Final Four sleepers for 2022-23 season
Wyoming Cowboys
After making the NCAA Tournament as an “at-large” team for the first time in 20 years last year, the Wyoming Cowboys are set to make noise again this year under head coach Jeff Linder. Last season, the Mountain West Conference was extremely competitive, especially at the top down the stretch of the season. They went 25-9 overall and despite coming in fourth in the conference at 13-5, still went dancing in March.
The Cowboys are returning their “dynamic duo” from a year ago in guard Hunter Maldonado and forward Graham Ike. Maldonado is returning to Laramie for his sixth season thanks to the extra year of eligibility thanks to COVID-19. He is a 6’7” point guard who averaged 18.5 PPG, 5.7 RPG, and 6.3 APG last year and will be one of the best players in the nation this upcoming season. Ike is going to be a junior next season and he had a breakout campaign in year two, averaging 19.5 PPG and 9.6 RPG. He had 14 double-doubles last season and scored 25 points or higher nine times.
Coach Linder was very active in the transfer portal this offseason, and the results show it. He brought in guard Ethan Anderson and wing Max Agbonkpolo from USC and forward Jake Kyman from UCLA. Anderson averaged 5.2 PPG over three seasons with the Trojans. Agbonkpolo is a former Top 100 prospect who averaged over 7 PPG last season splitting time between the starting lineup and bench. Kyman was a rotational player last year for the Bruins and has a career three-point percentage over 36%.
The Cowboys are also returning four rotational players of their own, as guards Brendon Wenzel and Xavier DuSell and forwards Jeremiah Oden and Hunter Thompson all return from last year’s NCAA Tournament team. With the SoCal area transfers entering the picture as well as the return of both Maldonado and Ike, Wyoming will be a Top 25 team. It may not be right away, but at some point in the season, they will get there. With a mix of veteran leadership and young talent, the Cowboys have the potential to make a run in March and cut down the nets to get to Houston.