LARAMIE – Nic Reynolds was doing the grunt work to make sure the 2018 Missouri Valley Coaches Association clinic went smoothly.
 
Columbia (Missouri) College, Reynolds' alma mater, was hosting high school and college coaches from the area for the event. He was making the transition from NAIA All-American player to graduate assistant for the Cougars.
 
It turned out to be a life-changing moment when Sundance Wicks took the stage.
 
"He was a later speaker in the day," Reynolds recalled of his first encounter with Wicks, the head coach at Missouri Western at the time. "I just remember his speech and being like, 'Whoa.'
 
"I think everybody in the building was like that. Everybody was kind of taken aback by his energy and his presence. He did a great job, and I just remember going up to him afterwards like, 'Hey Coach, can I get a business card?'"

The networking would eventually pay off for Reynolds, who was recently hired by Wyoming's new head coach as an assistant with the Cowboys.
 
"Perspective is everything," Reynolds said of his basketball journey from his hometown of Peoria, Ill., to the High Plains. "I know this is Coach's dream job and I'm just a huge believer in making it big time where you are. I am incredibly thankful that Coach considered me and gave me an opportunity to follow him."
 
Reynolds became a coaching rival of Wicks after taking a position at Division II Illinois-Springfield, where he accrued experience working on scouting reports and overseeing the video operations.
 
Wicks' Missouri Western squad won 18 games during the 2019-20 season but lost 90-76 on a cold December night in Springfield, Ill.
 
Reynolds also made stops at Purdue Northwest, Southern Arkansas and Denver before the relationship with Wicks grew warmer.

After leaving Missouri Western to work as an assistant at UW under Jeff Linder, Wicks recruited Noah Reynolds, who was a true freshman on the Cowboys' 2022 NCAA Tournament team and averaged 14.1 points as a sophomore.
 
"Our relationship really kind of picked up when he started recruiting Noah because in our family dynamic, I was a part of Noah's recruitment just trying to help him through it," Reynolds said of his younger brother's connection with Wicks. "Then obviously Noah was here for two years. Not every day was a great day, but they had a ton of great days and success with one another."
 
When Wicks left to become the head coach at Green Bay following the grueling 2022-23 campaign, he hired Reynolds to be a full-time assistant. Noah joined them as a transfer and earned all-Horizon League first team honors after leading the Phoenix in scoring, averaging 20.0 points per game last season.
 
Following Linder's exit from UW to be the lead assistant at Texas Tech, Wicks was hired by athletics director Tom Burman on May 15 to be the 23^rd head coach in program history.
 
Reynolds joined Wicks on the jet from Green Bay to Laramie.
 
"We all have goals and ambitions. No route is the same or equal," Reynolds said of his rise from NAIA to Division II to Division I assistant. "Coming from a small school background, not to say every coach scoffs at a small school level, but Sunny understood what it was. I was fortunate to be a part of some success at the small school level. He knew having been there himself as a player and a coach with a similar background.
 
"I think Sunny kind of respected the hustle and the grind that the small school level is and offered me an opportunity at Green Bay, which is Division I, but it has it's obstacles and challenges."
 
Now Wicks, a Gillette native who played at Division II Northern State before jumping on the bumpy coaching carousel, is charged with getting the Pokes back in contention in the Mountain West.
 
In addition to hiring Reynolds, Wicks also brought assistant Pat Monaghan from his Green Bay staff and retained Nick Whitmore, Shaun Vandiver and Tim O'Flannigan from Linder's staff.
 
"We have great staff continuity already and we're all on the same page," Reynolds said. "That has all played into us having some quick success (recruiting). We'll be able to finish strong here and put together a strong Mountain West roster."
 
Wicks announced the addition of four transfers – center Scottie Ebube (Southern Illinois), forward Cole Henry (Northern Iowa), guard Jordan Nesbitt (Hampton) and guard Obi Agbim (Fort Lewis College) – last Friday. The staff was previously able to retain forwards Matija Belic, Touko Tainamo and Oleg Kojenets and guards Kobe Newton, Nigle Cook and Jehvion Starwood.
 
UW has three scholarships remaining in this cycle to complete the 2024-25 roster.
 
"He's got the blueprint," Reynolds said of Wicks. "He's extremely detail oriented, extremely smart, and I have a year under my belt knowing what types of players do well under him and which types of players don't with personalities."
 
UW finished eighth in the standings during Linder's final season in which the Mountain West sent six teams to the NCAA Tournament and one team to the NIT.
 
A year ago, Reynolds helped overhaul Green Bay's roster and improve the team's performance from three to 18 wins. Wicks was named the Horizon League coach of the year and the Joe B. Hall national coach of the year.
 
"I hope they pick us last," Reynolds said of the Mountain West preseason pollsters. "They picked us last last year in the Horizon, and I think from that standpoint it's incredibly motivating. In this era, it's not five or 10 years ago where you've got four years and by that time you've got your guys in here. The portal era has its gifts and its curses. Everyone is expected to win right away, and I think we'd rather under-promise and over deliver.
 
"We're all competitors in here. No one is just interested in trying to compete. We want to win. So, we're going to do everything in our ability to make sure that happens."
 
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