LARAMIE – Marley without me.
 
Micah Curtis is writing his own basketball story for the first time.
 
The 6-foot-8, 230-pound Wyoming forward and his twin, Marley, were an unstoppable tandem at St. Louis Park High School in Minnesota, where Curtis averaged 29.6 points and 9.8 rebounds as a senior, with his brother adding 23.0 points.
 
The talented tandem played together at North Dakota as true freshmen last season. Curtis averaged 8.3 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.7 blocks in three games before suffering a season-ending injury. Marley appeared in 30 games, averaging 6.0 points and 3.6 rebounds.
 
They entered the transfer portal together but went their separate ways when Curtis decided to become a Cowboy and Marley signed with James Madison.
 
"It's pretty difficult," Curtis said of being roughly 1,700 miles away from Marley. "It was harder at first. The first day it was like this isn't even real because, you know, we've never been separated. We've always been on the same team, so it's an adjustment. But we talk multiple times a day, we're always in contact, we know what's going on in each other's lives. So, at least we have that."
 
UW head coach Sundance Wicks said he "absolutely fell in love with Micah and his family during our recruiting process," which is why he took a chance on a prospect coming off a serious injury.
 
Curtis is still on the mend from offseason surgery but hopes to be fully cleared by early February.
 
"Micah's a futures bet right now for us," Wicks said this summer. "He's still recovering from his back stuff, so it'll be a slow drip for him, but the talent is there. The ability to impact winning is there. He's an unbelievable kid and a great human, so the character stuff fits for us."
 
There were some lonely days in the portal when Curtis wasn't hearing from as many coaches as he would have liked. One day he noticed that Wicks and his staff had all started following him on social media.
 
Welcome to recruiting in 2026.
 
"My first phone call with Coach Wicks, he was like, 'What do you say we get you out of here tomorrow?'" Curtis said. "I was like, they're intentional, they're serious about this. So, I came here the next day, had a great visit, enjoyed it here and it felt like home. I felt comfortable. I like the college town, the connectivity, and I ended up committing on my way back home.
 
"This is the place for me. I'm not going to waste any more time. That was pretty much my experience."
 
When Curtis is healthy, Wicks expects him to be an impact player for the Pokes.
 
"I felt we needed to find a young man who had a big chip on his shoulder and was ready to prove himself. We found him in Micah Curtis," Wicks said in May. "He has a relentless motor, a Mountain West-ready body and plays a physical brand of basketball. What I love most, however, is his rebounding ability and his ability to play off two feet with two hands. We got a steal in Micah Curtis."
 
UW, which hosts the College of Idaho in the final exhibition game at noon Saturday in the Arena-Auditorium, returns a potential all-MW forward in 6-10 sophomore Gavin Gores. The Cowboys also have 6-9 forwards Neil Summers and Renars Sondors and 6-11 center Linus Ruf.
 
Curtis' bruising style could fit well with the rotation.
 
"I'm considered an athletic player. I take pride in my defense and my rebounding," Curtis said. "I'm going to bring a certain level of physicality and versatility on the defensive end, and I'm going to rebound the crap out of the ball."
 
In their first two exhibition games, the Cowboys defeated Northern Colorado in Gillette and lost to Texas Christian in Midland, Texas.
 
While he works his way back to the court, Curtis plans to make his voice heard from the bench.
 
"We play hard," Curtis said of his early impressions of the team. "I knew coming to Wyoming this is grown man basketball. We play hard. I think we honor that. We're a really good shooting team, and I think we're learning a lot on defense. As the year goes on, we're going to be really good defensively."
 
UW opens the regular season against Regis on Nov. 3.
 
Follow Ryan for more stories on Wyoming athletics on X at @By_RyanThorburn on Facebook at Wyoming Athletics and Instagram at wyoathletics. Also follow him at Pokes Insider at Gowyo.com/pokesinsider.
 
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