Wyoming basketball may not have many constants in the ever-shifting landscape of college athletics, but it does have Cort Roberson.
And there isn’t anyone more consistent, more loyal than Cort Roberson.
During his time as a Cowboy, Roberson has practically been a part of three different teams, played under two head coaches and experienced a rollercoaster of four different seasons with varying degrees of success. He was one of the hype men on the bench–the blue collar boys, as they were known then–when the Cowboys earned their first at-large bid to the NCAA tournament in 20 years during his freshman campaign. He was also then the one patting backs and uplifting his teammates the very next season when all those highs came crashing down and the Cowboys finished with under 10 wins on the entire season.
His loyalty to the program was unwavering when he saw almost all the team he had known and loved for the past two years all leave him behind after that disastrous season, looking for greener pastures in the transfer portal. He still remained after the next batch of Cowboys were a mismatch of one-and-done seniors or players who also transferred by season’s end. He even still stuck around when the head coach who originally recruited him left for another job.
“That first year was remarkable for everybody, and then the second year was bad. Then, the third year was something completely different and this year is something completely different with a new coach. So, it’s been a rollercoaster and I’ve loved every minute of it,” Roberson said of his four-year journey with the Pokes.
In fact, there is only one individual on this Cowboys’ roster and staff that is longer tenured than Roberson, and that is assistant coach Shaun Vandiver. That’s just how much turnover this Cowboy basketball program has gone through in the last four years, and just how loyal Roberson has been.
Needless to say, Roberson has been through a lot during his time as a Cowboy. It would have been easy for the Arlington, Washington native–who was a standout player during his prep career at Stanwood High School–to abandon ship like all those before him, as there’s a good chance he’d earn meaningful minutes somewhere else.
But he didn’t. And now, that’s finally paying off.
Exemplify what it means to be a Wyoming Cowboy.
— Wyoming Cowboy Basketball (@wyo_mbb) February 6, 2025
Deserved & more importantly earned. Sign that scholarship @cort_roberson31 pic.twitter.com/sHM8RV2djU
“It was overwhelming, just having been here so long to have something like that happen. I just worked my butt off to try and get that [scholarship], but whether it happened three years ago, last year, whenever it happened, it couldn’t have been more special than last night,” Roberson said a day after he was awarded his scholarship.
“To me, this was more special than Selection Sunday.”
Though Roberson has only appeared in a collective 15 games and scored just a handful of points here and there over the course of his collegiate career with the Cowboys, he has undoubtedly made a difference and a mark on this program. Head coach Sundance Wicks spoke at length of Roberson’s crucial role as a part of the “red team,” or scout team, and how important that role is and how uncommon it is for a player to stick around as a part of the red team for their whole career.
“[Roberson] gave more than he ever took, selfless acts of scout team servanthood, running every team’s playbook to the best of his ability, knowing the way he impacted winning was just that. Nobody got to see the work that went in behind the scenes,” Wicks said of Roberson’s role on the team.
With still another year of eligibility in his pocket and no plans of ever leaving Laramie, Roberson’s role on this team remains clear for the remainder of his career–and that is to pass down the culture, dedication and commitment it takes to be a Cowboy.
