LARAMIE, Wyo. — With the top two players in the Mountain West Conference and three other starters returning, Wyoming is poised for another run at the league title.
The Cowboys, who shared in the MWC championship last year, have higher expectations though. A season that ends with anything less than an NCAA Tournament bid will be a huge disappointment.
Hopes in Laramie have certainly changed since Steve McClain, 57-32 in three years, took over a program mired in mediocrity. The Cowboys are now the Mountain West favorites.
"That means a great deal to us," he said. "That's a mark we needed to reach."
McClain, who led Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College to a national junior college title and served under Billy Tubbs at TCU, has never shied away from high hopes.
"Most people are scared of expectations because the only thing you can do is not meet them," he said. "I think we've changed the expectations. Now we expect to win."
The Cowboys were 20-10 last year including 10-4 in the conference, tying with BYU and Utah for the title. But after dropping four of seven games in February, the Cowboys wound up in the NIT for the third time in four years.
McClain's uptempo style not only produced the school's first conference championship in 15 years but has drawn fans back to the Arena-Auditorium.
Last year's average attendance, 9,085, was highest since 1987-88 and third-highest ever.
Josh Davis, the media's choice for MWC player of the year last season, has started since he was a freshman and has one last chance to end an NCAA drought that has lasted at UW since 1987-88.
"I'm extremely hungry for it," he said. "It's about time. I'm ready."
Davis, a two-time all-MWC choice and All-America candidate, is only the ninth Cowboy to score 1,000 points and grab 700 rebounds in a career.
Last season he led the league in rebounding (9.4), was third in blocked shots (1.8), ninth in scoring (13.5) and 10th in field goal percentage (.485). However, he shot a career-low 20 percent from 3-point range.
Davis, who took part in a summer all-star tour of Europe, worked hard to improve his shooting during the off-season.
Marc Bailey, a 6-foot-5 junior guard, led the conference in scoring (17.4 points per game) and was runner-up to Davis in player of the year balloting.
"Marcus comes to play every day," McClain said. "That aspect of his game is one of the most significant in analyzing why he is so effective."
One of his strengths is taking the ball to the hoop.
"It's just kind of a spontaneous thing," Bailey said. "You get it on the wing in a game and you feel like you can take your man. Sometimes I just feel like I can take him."
Like Davis, Bailey was a first-team All-MWC pick. In addition to leading the league in scoring, he was third in free throw percentage (.853), eighth in assists (3.2), and 11th in field goal percentage (.470).
Uche Nsonwu-Amadi, a 6-foot-10 junior center, was the MWC newcomer of the year after leading the conference in shooting (.602) and finishing third in rebounds (11.8).
"We expect him to be a huge force for us in the middle," McClain said.
Chris McMillian, a 5-foot-10 senior guard who ranks No. 3 on Wyoming's career assists list and No. 4 on the steals chart, has been slowed by a broken ankle suffered in an off-season softball game.
If he isn't ready, 6-foot-2 junior Donta Richardson, a transfer from Sheridan College, or 5-foot-11 freshman Jason Straight, a highly touted Chicago schoolboy star, will earn the nod.
Richardson, a junior college All-America, is expected to bolster the outside game, the Cowboys' main weakness last season. Wyoming shot 28.5 percent from the arc, worst in school history.
The biggest boost to Wyoming's hopes may be a healthy Ugo Udezue, who was 29th in the nation in scoring (20.5) three years ago but was hampered by a knee injury the last two years. The 6-foot-9 forward appears to be fully recovered.
Udezue has the inside track on senior Ronell Mingo and sophomore David Rottinghaus for the fifth starting spot that all three shared last season.
The only departing players were sixth man Brett McFall and little-used Scottie Vines, who joined the football team.
Assistant coach Heath Schroyer takes over guidance of the Cowboys' defense. He was hired away from BYU, which allowed the fewest points in the conference last season.
The road to a possible NCAA berth begins Tuesday when Wyoming opens at No. 20 USC in the Preseason NIT. The conference schedule begins Jan. 5 at UNLV.
"I think we are ready for an NCAA run," McClain said. "How far we can go depends on many things: the draw, your matchups.
"Our goal is just to get there right now."