Junior guard John Adams is known for rim rattling dunks, his tenacious unrelenting defense and his athleticism, which is second to none. But last February when start forward senior Larry Nance Jr. went down with a torn anterior cruciate ligament, Adams became much, much more. He blossomed into an all-around player that the Mountain West and the nation will soon fear.
Wyoming basketball was having a tremendous, overachieving season last year.
In February the Pokes knocked off No. 5 San Diego State and this slingshot Wyoming to Mountain West sleeper status. No one wanted to play the Cowboys in March. Not the slow down, grind it out Cowboys who were peaking at just the right time.
Then the worst thing that could have happened to Wyoming did. It lost their star forward Larry Nance Jr. The expectations, the promise all torn to pieces when Nance tore his ACL. The Cowboys finished the final six games with an underwhelming 1-5 record.
“The team was pretty bummed out,” Adams said. “There were definitely some rough passes. The record did not indicate it but I thought we did a good job fighting through same adversity.”
With everything in life there is always find a silver lining. The blessing in disguise to Nance going down was the complete emergence of then sophomore guard Josh Adams.
Adams took over and took off in so many ways. He averaged over 20 points per game after Nance went down. He showed off his entire repertoire from driving to the hoop, to setting up other players, to always playing his patented lock down defense. One aspect of his game that really came into its own was his ability to consistently knock down mid-range jumpers. He willed the Pokes to their only win in the post-Nance era over rival Colorado State.
“We needed an offensive lift,” head coach Larry Shyatt said. “He gave us not only a chance to beat Utah State and UNLV, but really help elevate that win versus CSU.”
“I wanted to do whatever I could do to help the team,” Adams added.
The emergence of Adams gives Wyoming another player that can take over a game if needed. Senior guard Riley Grabau can get hot from the outside and carry the team. If Nance is able to come back and average what he did last year he has shown the ability to elevate the Cowboys. And now Josh Adams, who may be the most versatile of those three, has shown flashes of this “take-over” ability.
“Josh has been the engine of this team since his freshman year,” Shyatt said. “He has taken the challenge of being a more offensive payer without losing his defensive priorities.”
“It all depends,” Adams added. “If I’m hot we are going to go to me and if someone else is hot we are going to go to them.”
Wyoming looks to have its best team in the “Shyatt Era”. If the Cowboys can stay healthy and avoid the in-season adversity that has plagued the program the last couple of years they could surprise and prove that their pre-season predicted finish of sixth was a complete misfire.
