Oregon State Basketball: Wyoming Added To 2017-2018 Non-Conference Schedule

A week ago, Oregon State added Southern Utah to their non-conference schedule for the 2017-2018 season, the first known out-of-league opponent for the Beavers (besides the AdvoCare Invitational). On Tuesday, it was reported by Casper Star-Tribune that Oregon State has also added Wyoming to their upcoming slate, in what will be part of a multi-year series with the Cowboys in both Corvallis and Laramie. An official statement has not been produced by either school at this point, due to the fact that contracts have not been completed at the moment.

Wyoming is coming off a solid campaign under first-year head coach Allen Edwards, a former Cowboys’ assistant coach, who guided the program to a 23-15 record, culminating in a CBI Championship over Coastal Carolina. The team is expected to return 78% of their scoring from the 2016-2017 campaign, despite saying goodbye to the team’s third leading scorer and the school’s all-time three-point shooter, Jason McManamen.

This upcoming winter, the Cowboys will be led by the trio of rising junior Justin James (16.0 PPG), 6’ 8” foward Hayden Dalton (12.2 PPG) and 6’ 9” grad student Alan Herndon (11.1 PPG), as well as Swedish swingman Alexander Aka Gorski (7.7 PPG) and guard Louis Adams (7.6 PPG). Wyoming also adds some new pieces to the mix in UTEP transfer Brodricks Jones, Washington State walk-on transfer Nyaires Redding and redshirt freshman Austin Mueller. A three-player recruiting haul, comprised of Anthony Mack, Hunter Maldonado and the fantastically named Hunter Thompson, is expected to provide some additional depth for the Cowboys as well.

The 2017-2018 match-up with Wyoming is part of a bigger, “two-for-one deal” between the programs, meaning that the Cowboys will play Oregon State in Corvallis during the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 seasons, before playing a return game in Laramie during the 2019-2020 campaign. The Cowboys have agreed to a similar deal with 2017 Final Four participants South Carolina, as they’ll travel to Columbia to play the Gamecocks during the 2017-2018 and 2019-2020 seasons, with a match-up in Laramie coming during the 2018-2019 campaign.

Oregon State leads the all-time series against Wyoming, with a 8-3 advantage. The two schools haven’t met since the 2000-2001 season, when the Cowboys knocked off the Beavers, 65-53.