Edwards out as UW men's basketball coach

Edwards was a member of former UW coach Larry Shyatt’s staff for five seasons, and took over when Shyatt retired following the 2015-16 campaign.

Edwards’ first two years as a head coach were successful, with the team winning 43 games and the 2017 College Basketball Invitational title. Over the past two seasons, however, the Cowboys have struggled greatly, compiling a combined 17-48 record.

UW has lost 20 or more games six times in program history; two of those have come in the last two seasons under Edwards.

He will be paid the remaining $220,008 of base salary left on his contract.

“I appreciate the contributions that coach Edwards has made to Wyoming basketball as a head coach, and prior to that as an assistant coach. But after the lack of success the past two seasons, I believe it is in the best interest of our program to make a change at this time,” UW athletics director Tom Burman said in a statement. “We were all very proud of the performance by the Cowboys at last week’s Mountain West Tournament, and I wanted to take some time to consider the future of our program after the emotion of last week.

“After considering all factors, we have not seen the type of on-court success we expect at Wyoming. We have a rich basketball tradition, and we need to return Cowboy basketball to a prominent position in the Mountain West Conference.”

UW entered the MW Tournament as a No. 11 seed, and upended sixth-seeded Colorado State and third-seeded Nevada before falling to eventual tournament champion Utah State in the semifinals.

The Cowboys’ most obvious struggles in 2019-20 were on the offensive end, as the team ranked 335th of 350 Division I teams in points scored per game (62.7). While redshirt sophomore guard Hunter Maldonado emerged as a legitimate scoring threat following the graduation of star Justin James (now of the Sacramento Kings), no other UW player stepped up as consistent shot makers.

UW shot 40.9% from the field (313th nationally) and ranked 235th in 3-point field goal percentage (32.1%). It also struggled mightily rebounding, ranking 348th in rebounds per game and dead last nationally in offensive rebounds per game.

Edwards served as an assistant at Western Kentucky, Virginia Commonwealth and Morehead State prior to his time with UW. He had a storied playing career at Kentucky, where he won a pair of national championships in 1996 and 1998, and he later played in the Chinese Basketball Association and the International Basketball League.

UW is slated to return 11 players in 2020-21 and four of this season’s top-five scorers, including Maldonado – who earned All-MW honors from both the league’s coaches and media – and freshman guard Kwane Marble II.