At this time last year, the Wyoming men’s basketball team was ravaged by the transfer portal and was left with just three scholarship players on the roster after a tough 9-22 campaign that had high aspirations in the preseason.
This year’s team, which saw 11 new players join the roster through both the transfer portal and high school recruitment, had much less of an expectation and were more or less a stepping stone towards building back that success the Cowboys saw in the 2021-2022 season where they earned an at-large bid into the NCAA tournament.
Three of those 11 players, seniors Sam Griffin, Akuel Kot and Mason Walters were all known to be in their final year of college eligibility.
The first Cowboy to enter the transfer portal this year, which opened on March 18, was freshman guard Jacob Theodosiou, who saw limited action, most of which was during the non-conference portion of the schedule.
Then, just two days later, the remnants of the Cowboys’ roster from a season ago decided to enter the transfer portal as well. Both Brendan Wenzel and Caden Powell, two of the three remaining scholarship players from a year ago, decided to look for different playing opportunities.
Both were instrumental in the Cowboys’ success this season, as Wenzel was a do-it-all glue guy for this year’s squad who averaged 11.6 points to go along with 5.1 rebounds and 1.5 assists. Powell, who was often in foul trouble for the Cowboys, averaged 5.4 points and 4.6 rebounds.
With both Wenzel and Powell in the portal, the Cowboys starting five this year of Wenzel, Powell, Griffin, Kot and Walters are all no longer a part of the program.
Freshman Jonas Sirtautas was next up to enter the transfer portal, as he never saw any action this season but was talked highly of by Linder and his staff.
After those four entries, it seemed as if the dust had settled for the Cowboys in the transfer season, as even Tom Burman, Wyoming’s Athletic Director, noted he didn’t believe the Cowboys’ would see anymore entries into the transfer portal.
That was until the Cowboys’ freshman duo of Cam Manyawu and Kael Combs, both of which are from Missouri and are roommates, unexpectedly hit the transfer portal. They were both recruited by assistant coach Bryston Williams who, just recently, took a job to be an assistant at Drake, a D-I program in Iowa.
With that, the Cowboys’ roster has been reduced to just four scholarship players, being Oleg Kojenets, Kobe Newton, Nigle Cook and Kenny Foster, none of which have publicly come out to say they are returning next season.
The Cowboys do have a promising freshman recruiting class for next season, however, as four scholarships have already been signed by the Pokes’ 2024 recruiting class.
Three of those players are three star recruits according to Rivals and 247Sports. Those players are guards Dominic Pangonis and Jehvion Starwoord, as well as forward Dylan Warlick.
On3 sports labels the Cowboys’ fourth recruit, wing Oliver Faubert, a three star recruit as well.
With more than a thousand players actively in the transfer portal across all levels of college basketball, the Cowboys have plenty of time to retool their roster this offseason, as fans can prepare for another new-look Cowboys’ basketball next year once again.
