Bouknight Shines at Panthers Workouts

UW alum Jovon Bouknight seems to be making a positive impression on the Carolina Panthers.

"The Carolina Panthers may have found a hidden gem in undrafted free agent Jovon Bouknight. Signed by the Carolina Panthers on 5/5/06, Bouknight has shown great promise during the offseason voluntary "summer school" workouts. He has shown the ability to seperate from his defenders and demonstrated solid hands when given the opportunity."

Bouknight ran a slow 40 at the Combine and teams stayed away during the draft, but all you had to do was see him play at Wyoming to know he was faster than his Combine time.

Pokes Land Knapton

Wyoming as apparently landed a legacy player from Colorado in LB Gabe Knapton whose uncle Jeff Knapton played in Laramie in the 1980's. Knapton has verbally committed but won't sign a letter of intent until February.

"Knapton, who is projected to play linebacker at Wyoming, had 155 tackles last year as a junior, including 23 in a single game, earning all-state honors. He also caught 12 passes for 169 yards and three touchdowns. As a sophomore, he had 57 tackles and caught seven passes for 101 yards."

Wyoming AD Leaves for Iowa

Gary Barta is now the former Wyoming AD. Yesterday he made official what had been rumored for more than a week when Iowa announced Barta as their new AD.

"Gary Barta attended a press conference on Friday, and instead of his usual brown-and-gold tie, he wore black and yellow. He did not pin a bucking Steamboat to his lapel; he had a small, gold "I" there instead."

Wyoming doesn't seem to be in any hurry to find Barta's replacement.

"Until an interim athletics director is named, senior associate athletics director Barbara Burke will oversee operations in the department. Burke is one of the longest-tenured members of the athletics department but said it's too "premature" for her to think about applying for Barta's position. She did mirror the thoughts of others in the department who think a long search for a new athletics director wouldn't adversely affect Wyoming sports.

'I think we have such great internal staff, I don't think we're going to miss a beat if we don't have anybody here by the fall,' Burke said. 'Scheduling's done, we're moving forward. We don't have any issues like that to deal with. We don't have any positions of magnitude to fill at this point.'

'I don't know that (the search process) will be rushed, but you just don't know.'Buchanan, too, thinks the process of finding Barta's replacement doesn't need to happen overnight.

Justin Williams at Pre-Draft Camp

Star Wyoming hooper Justin Williams spent last week in Orlando at the NBA pre-draft camp. According to the story, Williams is being projected as a 2nd round pick in the upcoming NBA Draft which means he is far from a lock to make an NBA roster.

Williams can take solace in the fact that former WYO star Theo Ratliff has made a nice living for himself in the NBA as a shot blocker which is what Williams brings to the table.

"Williams finished second in the NCAA with 5.4 blocked shots per game last season, and his 11.0 rebounds per game were sixth best in the nation."

Joe Glenn Locked Up Long Term

Wyoming has signed miracle working head football coach Joe Glenn to a long term contract extension.

"Wyoming extended the contract of football coach Joe Glenn through the 2010 season, athletics director Gary Barta announced Tuesday."

Glenn could make as much as $450,000 a year at Wyoming which is sort of amazing. He is worth it though. He has changed the entire mindset of this program and it is key to get him to stay for the long haul so he can actually build a program.

Hopefully the Pokes will take a step forward after falling back a step last year. They have a murderous schedule, but this team is all Joe Glenn's now, no left-overs from the previous disaster.

WYO In The Hunt For One of Colorado's Top Players

CSTV is reporting that Wyoming is in the hunt for OT Levi Salmans. Salmans is 6-6 and 280 lbs and getting bigger.

"Salmans is getting interest because of his size and potential, but he's starting to come on pretty strong as a ballplayer. Colorado State and Wyoming are showing him the most interest right now, but Colorado and KSU are also looking at him. He's a guy that's got a lot of upside because of his size."

Wyoming On TV Early and Often

Thanks to the Mountain West Conferences new TV deal with CSTV and the new partnership with The mtn (Mountain West Sports Network), the Pokes will on TV nearly every week this upcoming season.

They will be on CSTV's national broadcast three times,

"Included in CSTV's 18 MWC national telecasts are three games featuring the Wyoming Cowboys. Wyoming's home games versus Colorado State on Saturday, Oct. 21 and San Diego State on Saturday, Nov. 4, as well as UW's road game at BYU on Thursday, Nov. 9 will be featured on CSTV's national package this coming fall."

The mtn is the first regional sports network devoted to just one college conference and Wyoming will be featured on it's first ever broadcast,

"The mtn. -- Mountain West Sport Network will carry 36 MWC football games beginning with the upcoming 2006 college football season. The mtn. will launch later in the summer of `06, and its first college football telecast will originate from Wyoming's Jonah Field at War Memorial Stadium on Sept. 2 when the Cowboys host non-conference foe Utah State."

Wyoming will also be featured on The mtn on six other occasions,

"The Cowboys will be featured seven times on The mtn. during the 2006 season. In addition to the inaugural telecast on Sept. 2, Wyoming's home games versus: Boise State on Sept. 16; Air Force on Sept. 23; and Utah on Oct. 14 will also be telecast regionally. Three Cowboy road games will be part of the 2006 television schedule on The mtn. Those three games are: the Oct. 7 contest at New Mexico; the Oct. 28 game at TCU; and the regular-season finale at UNLV on Nov. 18. The game at UNLV has the possibility of being switched to a CSTV national network telecast. That decision won't be made until after the 2006 season has begun."

That means only non-conference games against Syracuse and Virginia will not be televised. I still haven't figured out exactly how one obtains CSTV, but assuming it is readily available this should be a very cool deal.

Wyoming's Only College Football Hall of Fame Player

There are four men with Wyoming ties in the College Football Hall of Fame, but three of them are coaches and really only one of those (Bowden Wyatt) is in the Hall for his work at Wyoming (the others are Bob Devaney and Pat Dye).

The only player from WYO in the Hall is Eddie Talboom. Here is Talboom's bio from the Hall of Fame website,

Eddie Talboom was born May 5, 1921 at Delphos, Ohio. He moved to South Bend, Indiana, where he played football for Bernie Witucki at Washington High School. He was in the military in World War II. Upon his return to civilian life, he enrolled at the University of Wyoming and played under Bowden Wyatt from 1948-50. He stood 5-10 in height and weighed only 157 pounds. But he starred in the Wyoming single-wing. He ran, passed, punted, and place-kicked. He was Wyoming's first All-America in 1950 and Wyoming's first Hall of Famer in 2000. Talboom scored 130 points in 1950, third in the nation. In his career, he scored 34 touchdowns and 99 extra points. This gave him a total of 303 points. His average, 10.2 per game, was the fifth highest on record in 2000. He passed for 21 touchdowns, returned 10 kicks, and intercepted 2 passes. Wyoming went 9-1 in 1949, 10-0 in 1950. In 1949, Talboom scored 29 points against Colorado State. He led the Skyline Conference in scoring three times. The 1950 Wyoming team beat Washington and Lee 20-7 in the Gator Bowl. Talboom was responsible for all 20 points. Talboom graduated with a major in history. He taught and coached at the high school level. He died June 6, 1998.

WYO WR Wins Big on "Wheel of Fortune"

Wyoming WR Tyler Holden lost out to woman from Colorado in a special episode of the "Wheel of Fortune" taped in Denver, but he still managed to win $17,228 in cash and prizes including trips to Jamaica and Hawaii.

Now I think that's all just great, but I wonder what the NCAA will think about this. I mean Jeremy Bloom lost his eligibility because he earned money skiing, even though there are countless athletes who play minor league baseball in the summer and then suit for college football teams in the fall.

I'm just saying, you never know what the NCAA may do.

Wyoming No Longer Last in Athletic Spending in MWC

After years of Wyoming being dead last in the Mountain West Conference in terms athletic budgets, Colorado St. has finally found a way to spend less than UW. Just barely.

"CSU ranks last in the Mountain West Conference in the 2005-06 school year when it comes to athletic spending. The Rams' budget of $18 million trails each of the MWC's other eight schools, in some instances by millions of dollars."

Wyoming escaped the basement by the thinnest of margins,

"The Rams, who had been near the bottom since the MWC began and that way in its former Western Athletic Conference days, fell to the bottom spot this year. Wyoming athletic director Gary Barta recently told the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle that the Cowboys surpassed their border rivals with an $18.5 million-$19 million budget this school year.

'We used to have the very smallest budget in the Mountain West Conference. First it was eight out of eight, and when TCU joined (in 2005) it was nine out of nine,' he said. 'We've closed that gap dramatically to the point where we surpassed CSU.'"

A journey of a million miles begins with one step...or some crap like that.

McClain Adds Two JUCO Transfers

Wyoming basketball hasn't offically announced their new recruiting class yet, but we know two of the names on the list already. They are LA City College teammates James Spencer and Joseph Taylor. Both players seem to be defensive minded players which fits right in with McClains style of play.

Wyoming's defense, especially the shot blocking antics of Justin Williams, was the signature of last years team. Williams is lost to graduation, but Taylor may be able to take his place. the 6'8" power forward lead LACC in blocks last season. His current coach at LACC describes him this way,

"Very athletic -- he's a big-time athlete. He's a very good defender. I think he finally understands that he's good on the ball, but he's also very good as a help defender. That's where he gets most of his blocked shots."

Taylor was LACC's defensive stopper last season,

"I think he can play the two and the three. "James, very honestly, guarded the best guard -- and sometimes, the forward -- on the opposing team. He can guard guys bigger than him, can guard guys smaller than him."

Former Poke Gets NFL Shot

Wide receiver CJ Brewer had a pretty much non-descript UW career. As proof I submit the fact that he totaled all of 10 catches as a senior. Since then, however, Brewer has enjoyed a productive career in Arena Football and is now trying to turn that success into an NFL career.

"The Albany Conquest's C.J. Brewer is trying to take the same unlikely path to the NFL that the Albany Firebirds' David Patten followed nine years ago.

Both men are wide receivers who played only three games of Arena Football before signing with an NFL team.

Patten joined the New York Giants in 1997, and he's still in the NFL with the Washington Redskins.

Now it's Brewer's chance. He leaves Thursday to play for the San Francisco 49ers.
Brewer, a rookie from Wyoming, came to terms with San Francisco on a free-agent contract after the NFL Draft concluded Sunday night."

WYO Hoops Adds Assistant Coach

Steve McClain is looking to keep the mojo going from his teams amazing romp all the way to OT of MWC Tournament championship game by adding a new assistant coach. That coach is David Farrar.

McClain actually worked for Farrar at Hutchinson JC and the two combined for a National title in 1988, Farrar has recently been a DI head coach at Middle Tennessee St and Idaho before spending last season as an assistant with South Alabama.

At South Alabama Farrar found himself exactly where Wyoming wants to be, in the NCAA Tournament.

"'I think anytime you have an opportunity to hire someone who's not only been a head coach at this level, but has been successful at this level, it strengthens your coaching staff and strengthens your entire program,' McClain said in a school release."

This hire shows how serious McClain is about winning at Wyoming. It's dangerous anytime a coach who is on the hotseat brings in an assistant who has been a DI Head Coach. Makes it easy for the AD find your replacement. You've gotta love McClain.

Nick Brousseau Excited to be Coming to WYO!

Incoming recruit Nick Brousseau is working hard this offseason getting ready to join the Cowboys this fall.

"Nick Brousseau is good to go.

The University of Wyoming signee was visited by his position coach Friday morning during a weight training class at Chippewa Falls High School."

Brousseau is spending a lot of time in the weight room right now,

"Gerner said Brousseau had a good foundation for the weight training he’ll undergo as a Division 1 football player.

'Nick personally is very dedicated to the weight room in the last couple of years. I had no concerns about him continuing to progress,' he said. 'Now he can get a little bit of training from some of our coaches, our strength program, maybe it will be a better deal for him.'"

Brousseau will probably redshirt this coming season.

Bramlet At Patriots Rookie Camp

Corey Bramlet was signed as a free agent after the draft by the New England Patriots and he was the only QB to attend the Pats rookie camp.

"As the only quarterback at the New England Patriots' rookie minicamp, Corey Bramlet is relishing the spotlight. 'It's kind of nice to be able to take all the (repetitions) and get into the offense,' said Bramlet, an undrafted free agent from Wyoming. 'It's a good way to start learning. I just have to take advantage of it.'"

If Doug Flutie retires Bramlet may be able to stick with New England, but right now it seems like a long shot.