LARAMIE – Adam Harakow took the long road to Wyoming.
 
The Edmonton native began his career at Lake Superior State before getting a call from Sundance Wicks with an opportunity to level up with the Cowboys in the Mountain West.
 
Harakow and his father made the nearly 1,200-mile trek from Alberta, Canada to Laramie for his recruiting visit.
 
"Driving the whole state, it was kind of just a good way to see everything and appreciate the place," Harakow said.
 
Wicks and his staff are confident the 6-foot-7, 215-pound junior will be the latest Division II transfer to make a successful transition at UW like Akuel Kot and Obi Agbim did the past two seasons.
 
"He's a guy that plays so hard and so tough that you're always going to see him out there. Toughness is a talent, and he's got it in spades," Wicks said. "Adam is grateful and accepting of that challenge to prove he belongs."
 
Despite growing up in Edmonton, a city obsessed with the NHL's Oilers, Harakow did not play hockey. In fact, soccer was his best sport, and he was considering moving to Spain to play before those plans were wiped out by the pandemic.
 
After a growth spurt, Harakow emerged as a gifted basketball prospect. He made a big jump from his freshman to sophomore seasons at Lake Superior State, averaging 11.8 points and 4.4 rebounds while helping the team win 30 games and advance to the Elite Eight of the Division II NCAA Tournament.
 
"It's a part of learning," Harakow said of his improvement. "It's more than just your raw talent and shooting ability, especially as you move up levels you learn these concepts where it can apply to many different scenarios. In the future hopefully I can play professional basketball and I'm already picking up little things like footwork, being able to have that extra space to create your own shot and having more patience. ...
 
"I'm trying to learn as much as I can, watching film and just kind of being a sponge."
 
Harakow's versatility has been on display during UW's summer workouts. He scored 31 points during an NCAA Regional game in March and earned conference defensive player of the week honors during the regular season.
 
"I feel like I create advantages pretty well just being able to move, use my left hand, shoot off the catch and off the dribble and play solid defense," Harakow said. "I can handle the ball a little bit and play off the bounce and create that way as well. I think everyone is also good at that, so we have a team where three or four guys can bring up the ball and just play fast in transition."
 
Harakow has been developing off-court chemistry with his new teammates, including getting together to watch the NBA Finals and going on hikes together. He also spends a lot of time with his roommates – Abu Magassa, Kiani Saxon and Khaden Bennett – having conversations while hanging out in the living room.
 
"Adam is a great human being. He's one of the best human beings I've ever been around," Wicks said. "Just from the moment you met him and his mom and his dad you felt there was a level of intentionality with him, a level of humility, a level of respect."
 
Assistant coach Nic Reynolds was the first UW staffer to contact Harakow when he entered the portal. Then a FaceTime call from Wicks came.
 
"He actually means what he says. That was a great conversation," Harakow said. "Then coming here, the energy he brings, it's a great trait. When you see your coach has great energy where you think that's something you can really feed off of it's only a positive thing."
 
(Editor's note: This is the fourth in a 12-part series introducing fans to UW's new men's basketball players. Next up: Jared Harris).
 
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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