The Wyoming men’s basketball team received a verbal commitment from 6-3 shooting guard Luke Martinez from Williston State Community College in Williston, N.D.
Martinez averaged 19.7 points per game last season, and shot 39 percent from 3-point range.
He will have two years of eligibility at UW, and is expected to enroll this fall.
For more on this story, see Thursday’s Wyoming Tribune Eagle.
The Cowboys spent their seventh of 15 spring practices outside at windy yet warm Jonah Field at War Memorial Stadium Tuesday afternoon.
It was the first practice since last Saturday’s first major scrimmage, and there were not any significant changes to the depth chart.
Junior-college transfer Nick Puetz remained with the No. 1 offense at left guard, as did sophomore Josh Leonard at right tackle.
Sophomore quarterback Austyn Carta-Samuels scored a couple of red zone touchdowns via the run.
The cornerback and brother duo Marcell and Tashaun Gipson were ordered to leave the field during a team period by coach Dave Christensen after the two got into a minor altercation with senior running back Darius Terry. Both later returned and Christensen even cracked a smile with them on the sideline a little later.
“They’re good football players, they just got a little rambunctious over there,” he said. ”We want to make sure we don’t take any penalties that hurt the football team. Everybody is the same out here, think team first.”
For more on the Gipsons and UW’s secondary, see Wednesday’s Wyoming Tribune Eagle.
Going back to last Saturday’s scrimmage, one of the people watching was incoming freshman quarterback Sam Stratton from Chatfield High in Littleton, Colo.
Stratton tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee six games into his senior season. But he told me last Saturday he just got cleared to start running again and plans to participate in track later this spring. He anchored Chatfield’s 4×200-meter relay team to a Class 5A state title last year and placed second in the 400.
Stratton told me he hopes to run the relay, 100 and 400 this track season.
Also in Wednesday’s Tribune Eagle is news on another Chatfield football player who was in Laramie Tuesday watching practice. And, Bob Hammond of the Laramie Boomerang has a good piece on senior backup quarterback Dax Crum and everything he’s gone through the last couple of years.
Don’t forget the live chat set for 3 p.m. Friday. We can talk anything and everything UW sports. Here’s the link: http://wyomingcowboysblog.com/2010/03/29/live-chat-spring-football/
Wyoming and the other eight Mountain West Conference teams released their football schedules Monday.
Here is UW’s schedule. All times MST:
Sept. 4, Southern Utah, 7 p.m. (no TV)
Sept. 11, at Texas, TBA (TV TBA)
Sept. 18, Boise State, 6 p.m. (CBSC)
Sept. 25, Air Force, Noon (the mtn.)
Oct. 2, at Toledo, 5 p.m., (TV TBA)
Oct. 9, at TCU, 1:30 p.m. (CBSC)
Oct. 16, Utah, 4 p.m. (the mtn.)
Oct. 23, at BYU, noon, (the mtn.)
Oct. 30, San Diego State, noon (the mtn.)
Nov. 6, at New Mexico, 4 p.m. (the mtn.)
Nov. 13, at UNLV, 8 p.m. (the mtn.)
Nov. 20, Colorado State, noon (the mtn.)
Some immediate thoughts:
Some thoughts about other MWC teams’ schedules:
We can talk about this and more during this week’s live chat at 3 p.m. Friday. Here is the direct link: http://wyomingcowboysblog.com/2010/03/29/live-chat-spring-football/
Another live chat is scheduled for 3pm on Friday April 2nd. We’ll talk spring Cowboy football mainly, but if you have other stuff to talk about we can talk about that as well (lets keep it sports related!).
We hope to see you there!!!
Here are some spring football stories from some of Wyoming’s opponents in 2010.
The Cowboys practice Tuesday and Thursday afternoon this week before taking the rest of the week off for Easter.
Stay tuned for another live chat for later this week. I will keep you posted on the time and date.
http://www.coloradoan.com/article/20100329/SPORTS/3290316/1006/SPORTS/Young-QB-adjusting-to-CSU
http://www.lvrj.com/sports/rebels-defense-sturdy-in-scrimmage-89319957.html
http://www.sltrib.com/utahutes/ci_14759103
http://www.toledoblade.com/article/20100318/SPORTS11/3180376
http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/03/27/2071846/tcus-tejay-johnson-proving-himself.html
The Cowboys had their first full scrimmage of spring drills Saturday inside the school’s Indoor Practice Facility.
The offense beat the defense 57-49 in the elaborate and unique scoring system UW uses.
“It’s nice to come out here and have a practice and look like a real football team,” second-year coach Dave Christensen said. “I was very pleased with the No. 1 offense that scored on every possession, and the No. 1 defense stopped the twos on every possession except for one.”
The Cowboys’ first units were impressive.
Sophomore quarterback Austyn-Carta Samuels was 13 of 17 for 209 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions. He also led the offense with 80 yards on 10 carries and a touchdown.
Senior receiver Zach Bolger caught six passes for 74 yards, and clearly has been Carta-Samuels’ favorite target so far this spring.
Junior linebacker Brian Hendricks returned a Dax Crum interception 64 yards and a touchdown.
And in his first extensive scrimmage as a defensive end, junior Gabe Knapton had a team-best 10 tackles, which included 1.5 tackles for loss and a sack.
Other things that stood out to me from the scrimmage:
–True freshman running back Nehemie Kankalongo suffered an MCL injury to his knee Thursday in practice. He won’t require surgery but will be out the rest of spring. Sophomore Alvester Alexander and senior Darius Terry are the only two running backs on scholarship on the team right now. From now on, this will be a huge opportunity for Terry, who was the starter at the beginning of last season but fell to third and even lower on the depth chart by season’s end. Alexander had 59 yards on 14 carries and three TDs in the scrimmage. Terry had 32 yards on 12 carries.
–Junior-college transfer Nick Puetz started at left guard in place of senior Jack Tennant. Puetz may be there for a while.
–Carta-Samuels looks more comfortable and confident. I like what’ I’m seeing from him.
–While the interior of UW’s defensive line remains uncertain due to injuries and guys who have yet to arrive, I really like what I’m seeing from the defensive ends in Knapton and junior Josh Biezuns, and the back seven guys at linebacker and the secondary. The defense seems to have more speed and is playing a lot more physical so far this spring.
–A minor confrontation between redshirt freshman linebacker Devyn Harris and junior center Brandon Self broke out. No punches were thrown, but it took a few players to separate them from the pile of humanity.
–Sophomore kicker Ian Watts has some competition this spring in Casper walk-on Kevin Bell, but Watts remains the clear-cut starter.
–UW’s third quarterback on the roster right now is redshirt freshman walk-on Eli Zent from Shoshoni.
–Still haven’t seen much from UW’s two junior-college receivers — Mazi Ogbonna and DeJay Lester — but give it some time. They are still getting used to their new surroundings and expectations.
See Sunday’s Wyoming Tribune Eagle for more on the scrimmage. Also see my column on how the experimentation continues along the offensive line, which is fine, but how key it will be for UW to find more consistency from that unit once the regular season starts.
I don’t think the majority of the 7,142 fans at the Arena-Auditorium tonight thought their Wyoming Cowgirls would lose to Mountain West Conference rival Brigham Young in the third round of the WNIT.
But thanks to some huge 3-point shots and 13 second-chance points, BYU defeated UW 67-63.
The Cowgirls’ season ends at 21-12. BYU improved to 23-9 and advance to the quarterfinals.
UW made 17 of 21 free throws, but a big miss late by junior Aubrey Vandiver really hurt the Cowgirls.
And after an air ball on a 3-point attempt, BYU got a big offensive rebound and scored.
But it wouldn’t be fair to blame one person or one play in a game like this. This was a game between two pretty good teams and BYU simply made a few more plays.
And they should provide some good games next season. UW has no seniors and BYU has just one.
Like shooting 8 of 15 from 3-point range, shooting 48.1 percent and outscoring UW’s bench 27-7.
The Cowgirls were led by Vandiver’s 20 points and 11 rebounds. Hillary Carlson added 18 and Emma Langford had 15.
Coriann Wood came off the bench and had 18 for BYU.
For more on this game, see Friday’s Wyoming Tribune Eagle.
And if you want to talk more about this game, UW football or anything UW sports related join me at 10:30 a.m. Friday for a live chat. Here is the direct link: http://wyomingcowboysblog.com/2010/03/23/live-chat-spring-football-2010/
Maybe it’s because he and his family spent a week or so in the Caribbean.
Or maybe it’s because he has a year under his belt as head coach.
No matter the reason, second-year Wyoming football coach Dave Christensen is happy man heading into his second spring drills with the Cowboys.
“I’m not in as big of a state of depression as I was a year ago when we were out here,” Christensen said earlier this week when asked what some of the biggest differences are for him now as compared to this time last year.
“We’ve got some guys that can run, that can hit and can play football. We’ve got more depth. We’ve got more athletes. It’s more competitive. The hitting is better than it’s been and it’s more physical.”
UW’s fifth practice of spring drills is at 3:30 p.m. today, and its first scrimmage of the spring is at 9 a.m. Saturday at the school’s indoor practice facility.
I will try and give you and update after today’s practice, but it may be a tough because at about 6:45 p.m. I will begin the live blog of the Wyoming women’s basketball teams’ WNIT game with BYU. Join me at http://wyomingcowboysblog.com/2010/03/24/live-blog-cowgirls-vs-byu-wnit-tournament/
If I can’t get an update to you today, join me for a live chat on football or anything UW sports-related at 10:30 a.m. Friday at http://wyomingcowboysblog.com/2010/03/23/live-chat-spring-football-2010/
Wyoming’s Emma Langford scored a career-high 29 points in the Cowgirls’ 68-57 overtime victory over Texas Tech in the second round of the WNIT Tuesday night in Laramie.
Her final three points came on a 3-pointer with 45.1 seconds left in overtime. It gave the Cowgirls an 65-57 lead and certainly secured the victory, if it weren’t already.
It was a similar scenario as what happened in the men’s NCAA Tournament last week when Northern Iowa guard Ali Farokhmanesh made a 3-pointer late in the contest with his team ahead and with a chance to run out the clock against top-seeded Kansas. That shot secured Northern Iowa’s 69-67 victory and advanced it to the Sweet 16.
“Everybody’ has been talking about Northern Iowa and the 3-point shot that was made that put them over the hump,” UW coach Joe Legerski said Wednesday. “As a coach you would like to see a little more clock go down, especially in a foul situation because we were going to go to the foul line. But you never want a player to be hesitant. That’s probably more important than whether it was a good shot or a bad shot. She did not hesitate to take that shot. When you have that kind of confidence I’ll have you shoot that ball all the time.”
“You can see how high her confidence was when she took the shot with 45 seconds left (in overtime) when we were up five. She had the confidence to knock that 3 down. … It made life a little easier in the last 30 seconds.”
Legerski was pleased with Langford’s play throughout the game, which also included seven rebounds and three assists.
“She was making 3s, she was getting to the basket, she had her mid-range game working. When she has all phases offensively going, she’s very difficult to contain,” he added.
See Thursday’s Wyoming Tribune Eagle for more on the Cowgirls, including a game preview of Thursday’s third-round WNIT game with Brigham Young in Laramie and my column on how Langford is one of several players to step their game up in numerous ways for the Cowgirls recently.
Also, I will live blog Thursday’s game with BYU. We will start around 6:45 p.m. Join me for the fun at http://wyomingcowboysblog.com/2010/03/24/live-blog-cowgirls-vs-byu-wnit-tournament/
It’s short notice, but Robert is going to be live blogging the Cowgirls game vs BYU Thursday night. Tip off is at 7pm and Robert hopes to get started live blogging around 6:45pm.
Go Cowgirls!
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