LARAMIE, Wyo. (Wyoming News Now) – Head Men’s Basketball Coach Jeff Linder and the University of Wyoming agreed to an extension earlier this week to keep Linder in Laramie through the spring of 2027.
The Cowboys just finished their second season under Linder’s leadership. In year two, he was able to deliver an NCAA Tournament berth and had the brown and gold in the top-25, which were both firsts for the program since 2014-15.
With the ink officially dry on the extension that will kick in in July, Linder took a few minutes to sit down with Wyoming News Now’s David Graf to talk about the new deal, the future of the program and some fishing.
This interview has been edited for content and clarity.
DG: Let’s start with the contract extension. What made you want to sign an extension to stay here in Laramie?
JL: First, I’m very thankful to the Board of Trustees, President [Ed] Seidel, and [Athletic Director] Tom Burman. Tom was proactive. I’ve had the contract on my desk since about the middle of January, and I just had to kind of figure out a few things, dot a couple of i’s and cross a few t’s. But for them to show early on and being proactive, just kind of showed me that they believe in what we’re doing. And not just me, I’m out there coaching, but between my assistant coaches, support staff, everybody that allows us to do what we do and allow me to look good.
The biggest people are the players. You don’t have good coaches unless you have good players, and I definitely owe my guys lunch or dinner at the Rib and Chop House for allowing me to get a contract extension.
DG: What’s most exciting about the future of this program?
JL: I think to have a guy like Maldo and Graham to go along with J.O., Wenzel, X, Noah, and Hunter Thompson. Just to have almost 90% of your scoring coming back, 90% of your minutes coming back. Our guys know, too, that we’re going to add a couple of pieces to the puzzle with what we have.
There’s going to be a lot of expectations, and that’s a good thing. There weren’t a lot of expectations a year ago at this time in terms of where we would be at. [Most years] you probably would have lost a lot of money if you had bet that the Cowboys would’ve won 25 games and got an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament, but we’re not satisfied. Our guys are hungry, and we know with who we’ve got coming back and if you add the right pieces to it, we’re going to contend for a Mountain West Conference championship and be a team that’s talented and good enough to win games in the NCAA Tournament.
DG: You sign a contract extension here in Laramie. It signals that you like it here in Laramie. What do you like about Laramie?
JL: My everyday. It’s a great place to raise kids. I have four kids, and my oldest is here at the University of Wyoming. I got one in high school, one in middle school and one in kindergarten, so my wife has her hands full.
For me to be able to drive two minutes from my house to the arena, to walk into a great facility, to have an office that actually has windows to where I can see outside and I can see the blue sky, and to have access to some of the best trout river waters in the lower 48.
It’s pretty simple. You know it’s basketball, family, and fishing, so I got it pretty good. Add golf in there every now and then when the weather’s nice, and I can’t be in a better place. I don’t have to fight traffic although I have to fight the whiteouts in March and April on I-80, but for me, it’s a pretty simple life.
DG: So you’re a fisherman. I didn’t know this about you.
JL: Well then, you must have been in a cave about the last two years as much as I’ve mentioned fishing, so yeah, I’m a very avid fly fisherman. I’m very fortunate to have gotten to know a lot of people in the state and have access to a lot of good water, and that’s one of the beauties of being the head coach at the University of Wyoming is that you can get access to some of those things, and I don’t take that for granted. Although I have a lot of coaches across the country calling me and asking me when I’m going to take them fly fishing, I’m very fortunate to be a nice drive away from catching some really nice trout.
DG: What’s your best catch most recently?
JL: It depends on the river. We had an unbelievable day back in May on the Platte [River] outside of Casper. That was a 100 fish day. I’ve had some really good days on the Encampment [River]. Looking forward to getting up to the Bighorn here in the next couple of weeks.
My college roommate, Matt Smiley, whose brother was my associate head coach, who is the head coach at Northern Colorado, Steve Smiley, we’ll always make our way over to Flaming Gorge once the ice comes off. He has the state record on the Utah side on the catch and release for the lake trout [at] 52 lbs. Last spring, probably early May, I caught a 32 lb. lake trout out of Flaming Gorge, so hopefully, I can best that this time here in the next month or so.
DG: That’s no joke. I’m laughing because these fishing stories bring me back. What is it that you’re looking forward to developing the program further?
JL: We just want to continue to grow the program. In order to do that, you have to have support from everybody. To see how the community and the state rallied behind this team, and to see the crowds that we experienced at the Double-A, and when you see that and when recruits see that. Now, I’m calling a kid trying to explain how good we’re gonna be, I can say now, ‘Hey, look, we won 25 games, we got an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.’ So another coach, who’s trying to recruit the same kid, can’t say, ‘Well, Wyoming’s a hard job. They haven’t won very many games in the last few years.’
Well, that’s not the case anymore. So to be able to use those things and use that momentum, just allows you just to continue to make the players you do have to get them better. But at the same time, it allows you to get other players that can help you build the program as well.
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