March 23, 2003

Steve McClain was pulling for DePaul last Tuesday night. The 40-year-old Wyoming head coach, who guided Hutchinson Community College to the 1994 national junior college championship, knew if the Blue Demons beat the Tar Heels his Cowboys would probably get another home game. It didn't happen,so Thursday night before beating Eastern Washington, 76-71, McClain told his team the winner would be going to Chapel Hill, and the players were excited.

Wyoming, which claimed the 1943 national championship, but last year appeared in its first NCAA Tournament since 1988, were taught a valuable lesson about the tradition of college basketball in mid-January. That's when the Cowboys visited Kansas and learned about the real culture of college basketball. The Jayhawks won 98-70, but Wyoming was 12-3 leaving Lawrence.

The record, despite the loss of forward Marcus Bailey, one of four returning starters, to a torn ACL in the ninth game, would improve to 16-3 before Wyoming's troubles began. Its consistent shooting faded, and its domination of the boards dropped off. The Cowboys, picked by the media as the pre-season favorite in the Mountain West Conference, lost seven of their last 11 games. They finished third in the league standings and got bumped out of the conference tournament in the quarterfinals with a 74-71 loss to Colorado State, the eventual champion.

However, they were able to regroup for their fourth NIT appearance over the last six years, and ousted Eastern Washington in their first game. "I asked the players before the game if they had watched Vegas against Hawaii," McClain explained. "Most of them had seen the game (which Hawaii won 85-68), and they didn't think the Rebels looked real interested in playing. So we went out and got great play out of everybody against the Eagles."

Senior guard Donta Richardson, a first-time all-conference selection, led the way with 24 points. His backcourt running mate, sophomore Jay Straight, tossed in another 16. That duo has combined for more than 28 points a game during Wyoming's (21-10) third straight 20-win season. Junior reserve David Adams, a Washington State transfer, came off the bench to notch another 15 points, which was his high for the season.

Matt Doherty, who has known McClain since his days as a Kansas assistant, knows there is speed and quickness on the Wyoming perimeter, but the Pokes have one of the country's best big men. Uche Nsonwu-Amadi, a 6-10 senior from Nigeria, was a first-team all-conference choice, after posting averages of 14.1 points and 9.7 rebounds. His 14 points and 12 rebounds against Eastern Washington marked his 12th double-double of the year, and he is now among the school's top ten career rebounders.

"Everybody knows we've struggled against big guys this winter," Doherty pointed out, "so we're really going to have to find a way to limit him as best we can. I don't know if we're going to be able to do that because he's really a talented player."

The UNC coach believes the disappointment of not making the NCAA Tournament was erased when the Tar Heels took the floor against DePaul, and now after getting a couple of days off last week they're excited about playing another good team. The Wyoming coach knows his players will also be excited.

"This will be another great experience for these kids," McClain stated. "They grew up watching North Carolina on television."