Matthew Bartholomew
Sports Editor
UW men’s basketball coach Allen Edwards was fired after a surprise Mountain West tournament run.
The University of Wyoming announced the release of Edwards yesterday after four seasons with the program.
Edwards was promoted to head coach before the 2016-2017 season after serving as an assistant coach. He replaced Coach Larry Shyatt, who led the Cowboys to a Mountain West tournament championship and a National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) tournament appearance during the 2015 season.
During his first two years leading the team, Edwards kept this momentum with back-to-back 20 win seasons with the Cowboys ending the 2017-18 season 20-13. However, during the third season with Edwards,the team began to fall in the ranks, finishing with a 8-24 record at the end of the 2018-19 season.
The 2019-20 season looked fairly similar to the one before it.The Cowboys had another single-digit season with a record of 9-24. The Cowboys started the season by losing 10 games and ended an 11- game conference losing streak when they beat San Jose State on Feb.1st.
During the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons, the Cowboys have had some issues under Edwards. The Cowboys lost 33 of their last 41 games against teams in the Mountain West and had the sixth-most turnovers in the league this season.
The team’s loss against Utah State put an end to their impressive run in the Mountain West tournament semifinals. Despite this, the Cowboys couldn’t make the best out of the 2019-20 season, making this the first time since the 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons the Cowboys have had back-to-back seasons with 20 losses or more.
Edwards went 60-76 during his four years with the team and 24-48 in conference play.
According to the Casper Star Tribune, Edwards will be paid a salary of $220,008 for the rest of the time of his contract, ending April 30, 2021.
The University is actively conducting a national search to find a replacement for Edwards.
