LARAMIE – Levi Brown used to play above the rim in the Arena-Auditorium when he was a kid.
 
The Wyoming redshirt freshman accrued a lifetime of Cowboys basketball memories in the stands before fulfilling his dream of being part of the team last season.
 
"My first ever memory is probably a game I went to when I was little and actually got called out to do the halftime show," Brown said. "I was like dunking on the Little Tikes hoop."
 
Brown was a key part of the recent resurgence of the Laramie High program. The 6-foot guard scored 23 points in a 2023 state semifinal game against Cody to lead the Plainsmen to the 4A title game for the first time since 2011.
 
The postseason run led to an opportunity to play for Jeff Linder last season at UW, an opportunity that came with a steep learning curve.
 
"I kind of got my butt chewed by Linder a little bit," Brown said of the transition from prep standout to Division I walk-on. "That was kind of my welcome to college moment, but it was fun."
 
After Linder left to be an assistant at Texas Tech, Sundance Wicks – a Wyoming native who won the Milward Simpson Award during his senior season at Campbell County High School – was hired as UW's head coach.
 
Despite dealing with a thumb injury this summer, Brown's skills impressed Wicks when he was on the floor for workouts.
 
"Levi has got some game and people don't realize that," Wicks said. "When I first got here, I saw him at open gym a couple time and was like, all right, you can play. Sometimes it's him believing that he's good enough. He can go out there and give dudes that have been playing college basketball for a couple years some buckets.
 
"There are good basketball players everywhere it's just a matter of how deep your resolve is, how much do you believe in yourself. Because when I watch him play, I say, go do that again, keep doing that and don't stop being an ultimate competitor."
 
Brown, who is now healthy ahead of UW's first official practice of the 2024-25 season, is embracing his role on the scout team and appreciative of Wicks' confidence-boosting but demanding style.
 
"Knowing that I can do it and to have a coach be like, look, you can do it, is a great feeling to have somebody that can push you like that," Brown said. "It was tough having Linder leave because I really liked him, and I thought last year we had a great team. It didn't go our way. But the transition wasn't that hard at all because Sunny actually coached under Linder, and I really like them both."
 
Wicks was an assistant at UW for three seasons (2020-23) before leading a dramatic turnaround at Green Bay last season and winning the Joe B. Hall national coach of the year award presented to the nation's top first-year coach.
 
The Cowboys are rebuilding with 10 new players from six different states and four different countries.
 
Brown has helped acclimate the eclectic collection of talent to life at 7,220 feet.
 
"It's kind of an eye-opening experience to have players from everywhere and be the guy they go to for like, where do I get my haircut? But it's fun," Brown said. "I'm just doing my part to help the team get better in any way possible. I'm trying to make myself better but also everybody else around me better at the same time."
 
Growing up Brown was a fan of Justin James, who led UW to a College Basketball Invitational title. During his breakout season at Laramie High three years ago, the Cowboys made the NCAA Tournament.
 
"You've got to have remnants of the past and have people that have a connection to the past here who can help explain it," Wicks said. "That's the good part about Levi."
 
If you are interested in learning more about NIL (Name, Image and Likeness) or would like to support our student-athletes, please visit 1wyo.org. 1WYO was created out of Wyoming's culture of neighbor helping neighbor. The mission is to promote and strengthen local charitable organizations and develop Wyoming student athletes. 
 
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