LARAMIE – The future looks bright for Sundance Wicks and the Cowboys.
 
However, in the age of the transfer portal Wyoming's head coach understands the importance of living in the moment.
 
No matter what happens with the rest of the roster, which Wicks plans to keep mostly intact, this will be the last ride for seniors Leland Walker, Kiani Saxon and Matija Belic.
 
Walker leads the team in scoring (14.4 ppg) and assists (3.6 apg) and Saxon has stepped up as the starter in post down the stretch surrounded by a four-guard lineup that is creating matchup problems for opposing defenses.
 
Belic, who was going to be a focal point in his second season at UW, has been more of a player-coach since suffering an injury that has sidelined the 6-foot-7 forward since Dec. 30.
 
Wicks hopes the trio can experience a March run before handing the leadership baton off to an otherwise young nucleus of talent.
 
"It's been a blessing coaching these guys," Wicks said. "For the senior class, I just wish I would have had more time with Matija. Those are the regrets you get as a coach saying things like I wish I would have. Sometimes it doesn't work out like that. He's a coach on the bus now, he's a coach on the floor. I know nothing is going down in that locker room because he's in there, Papa Belic, monitoring the boys, keeping track of the flock.
 
"I think Kiani has just been a culture king and Leland is a juice man. So you've got old (Belic) in there making sure things don't go awry, you've got the culture king in there with his little (New Zealand) accent, and you've got the juice man making sure the boys are ready. And they're just giving and giving and giving and those three seniors are special because of what they're giving."
 
The Cowboys (15-13, 6-11 Mountain West) will try to end the last home dance for the seniors on winning notes when they host Air Force at 2 p.m. on Saturday and Nevada at 8 p.m. Tuesday in the Arena-Auditorium.
 
UW will then conclude the regular season on March 7 at San Jose State before the MW Tournament tips off four days later at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.
 
"Everybody knows our goal is to have a winning season, the first one here in a while. To do that you're going to have to win some games down the stretch," Wicks said. "There's a point of pride in our locker room for these guys to finish the right way, finish strong. I'm very open and honestly about our goals and expectations and standards and the process of becoming, not only for this year, but becoming for next year."
 
In addition to Walker, freshman Nasir (Naz) Meyer (13.0 ppg), sophomore Damarion Dennis (10.3 ppg) and junior Khaden Bennett (10.3 ppg) are averaging double figures in scoring.
 
Juniors Uriyah Rojas and Adam Harakow, sophomore Abou Magassa and freshman Simm-Marten Saadi combined for 34 points and 19 rebounds off the bench during UW's breakthrough 70-65 road win at Grand Canyon.
 
Wicks said 6-10 freshman Gavin Gores is available to return to the court against the Falcons after missing the last five games with a broken nose and injured hand.
 
Patiently building a championship team is hard to do these days, but the Pokes expect to contend for a MW regular-season title next season if this group returns to finish the job.
 
"We're really focusing on retention and keeping core pieces so we can build off this next year," Wicks said. "We know what our plan is today and what our plan is going to be tomorrow. We know in the short term but we're also talking about long-term vision as well to get people to see something bigger."
 
The 2025-26 Cowboys have already exceeded the win total from last season by three with at least four games remaining.
 
Wicks doesn't want this campaign to end in Las Vegas no matter what happens at the conference tournament.
 
"NIT, CBI, NCAA, it doesn't matter. We want to play postseason," Wicks said. "I've got a bunch of guys that love playing basketball and it's always important to finish strong. We want to finish strong because we want to find a bid for postseason somewhere. I think that it's important for our guys to continue to play."
 
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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