LARAMIE – Marquelle Dent was born to play basketball at Wyoming.
 
But coaching?
 
That was not on Dent's mind while she was playing point guard for the Cowgirls for Joe Legerski a generation after her father, Sean Dent, helped lead the Cowboys to the Sweet 16 under Jim Brandenburg.
 
"Honestly, I didn't really think I would get into coaching," Dent said. "I wanted to play a little bit longer professionally. That kind of changed. But after I got done playing I kind of got thrown into it and obviously learned a whole lot from Coach Joe and how he treated the players and the motion offense and everything, which I tried to implement when I started coaching."
 
Dent started her coaching career at Cheyenne Central High School. She climbed the collegiate ladder in Colorado with stops as an assistant at Regis, Northern Colorado and Denver before getting the call from Heather Ezell to join the UW staff as the special assistant to the head coach.
 
Two of Ezell's full-time assistants, Fallon Lewis and Natalie Baker, also played for the Cowgirls.
 
"When I started my coaching career I always wanted to get back here eventually," Dent said. "It was a very surreal moment for me when I got offered the job and was able to get back here. I'm honestly excited and grateful for the opportunity."
 
During her playing career, Dent was a 2015 WBCA honorable mention All-America and a two-time all-Mountain West selection. She ranks second in program history for career assists (514) and 17^th in scoring (1,337 points).
 
Ezell's first season as an assistant at UW was Dent's senior year.
 
"I wish it could have been longer," Ezell said of coaching Dent. "I remember the glimpses of what she was capable of doing, the skill level she had and the abilities she had."
 
Dent is the only player in program history to have at least 1,000 career points, 500 career assists and 175 career steals.
 
The apple did not fall far from the tree as Sean Dent finished his career as UW's all-time leader in assists and steals while running point on the Pokes to an NIT championship game and back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances.
 
"One thing that my dad has always taught me is his teammates would run through a wall for Coach Brandenburg," Dent said. "I think that relationship that they had was always super important to them. At the end of the day, it's more than just basketball and you know that through Coach Brandenburg's life. He always talked to them and even me as a kid.
 
"That relationship piece is very important because the more you love them the harder you get to coach them."
 
Ezell is looking forward to having another staffer with a "point guard mind" as the Cowgirls turn the reins of the motion offense over to junior Kati Ollilainen and sophomore Lana Beslic following the graduation of Emily Mellema.
 
"I grew Emily, and she grew as a point guard big time, but to have somebody else those points guard can look at will be nice," Ezell said. "I know I'm busy and there's times when they want to come in and work and it might not work with my schedule. Now there's somebody else they can do it with."
 
The Cowgirls must replace Mellema, Mountain West player of the year Allyson Fertig and four other beloved seniors from last year's squad, which lost in triple-overtime in the conference championship game.
 
Dent said the consistency of the program is evident with Ezell entering her fourth season as head coach after spending two seasons as an assistant under Gerald Mattinson and five seasons as an assistant under Legerski.
 
"The nice thing about having seniors like that is you have younger kids that have learned from them a lot," Dent said. "I think that family dynamic with Coach Joe is still around with Coach Heather. I really appreciate that. It's something special at Wyoming that not a lot of other teams get to see, being a Cowgirl for life. That's one thing I appreciate about Heather is it's a hard legacy to follow but you can tell she has really embraced that dynamic."
 
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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