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When Heath Schroyer was hired as the 20th head coach in Wyoming Cowboy Basketball history on March 23, 2007, he had a vision of returning the Cowboys to the top of the Mountain West Conference and back into the national spotlight. Now entering his third season at Wyoming, Schroyer believes the foundation has been laid to do exactly that. During his coaching career, Schroyer has been involved in winning league championships at three different NCAA Division I programs. He has also guided all five Division I teams that he has coached to a league championship, the postseason or to both. Throughout his career, Schroyer has had great success with building programs. At both his stops as a head coach, Wyoming and Portland State, he has worked on successful rebuilding efforts. As an assistant coach, he helped rebuild both BYU and Fresno State. After taking over as the head coach of the Wyoming Cowboys, Schroyer led the Pokes to a 12-win season in his first campaign. However, it was during his second season that the Cowboys saw a vast improvement. During the 2008-09 season, the Cowboys won 19 games, earned their first postseason bid since 2002-03 and advanced to the semifinals of the Mountain West Conference Tournament. On the year, the Cowboys beat four different teams that advanced to postseason play--Northern Iowa, New Mexico, San Diego State and UNLV. The Cowboys finished 19-14 and 7-9 in the MWC. That two-year turnaround, from a 12-18 record to a 19-14 mark, matched the 44th best in the nation. Following the season, Schroyer's contract was extended through 2014. "I think we have laid a solid foundation in our first two years and I am excited about the future of Cowboy Basketball," said Schroyer. "With our success, we have been able to attract very good, young players to our program. The best part is that these young players will be together for the next three to five years. I believe this is the mold for building a successful program." The 2008-09 Cowboy team was one of the best free throw shooting teams in the nation. Entering postseason play, the Pokes led the nation in made free throws and ranked second in attempts. They made 72.7 percent of their free throws during the season, which ranked 57th in the nation. In his time at Wyoming, Schroyer's Cowboys have received a great deal of individual attention. In just two years, a Cowboy has been named All-MWC four times. Brandon Ewing was named First Team All-MWC in 2009 and Second Team All-MWC in 2008, after leading the league in scoring both years. Both Tyson Johnson and Sean Ogirri were named Honorable Mention in 2009. Afam Muojeke was also selected as the MWC Freshman of the Year in 2009, while also receiving numerous other awards honoring the top freshmen in the nation. Ewing was selected as an Honorable Mention All-American among high-major schools by Collegehoops.com following the 2008-09 season. He was also named All-District VIII by the United States Basketball Writers Association and Second Team All-District 17 by the National Association of Basketball Coaches. In 2008, Ewing was named Second Team All-District VII by the USBWA and Second Team All-District 13 by the NABC. An area that Schroyer placed a great deal of emphasis on during his first two years at UW was improving the Cowboys' Academic Progress Rate. During the 2007-08 season, Schroyer's first at UW, the Cowboys achieved their highest APR score ever and regained a full 13 scholarships for the upcoming 2009-10 season. During his first season at the helm of the Cowboys, Schroyer began a rebuilding process that was highlighted by regular season sweeps of MWC rivals Utah and Colorado State, a trip to the championship game of the 2007 UTEP Sun Bowl Tournament and a December non-conference win over Colorado. The Cowboys finished that year with a 12-18 record, despite playing with only eight scholarship players due to injuries and APR restrictions. Prior to accepting the Wyoming job, Schroyer served as the associate head coach at Fresno State University under Steve Cleveland during the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons. The Bulldogs posted a 22-10 record during the 2006-07 season and placed third in the Western Athletic Conference. Fresno State advanced to first round of the 2007 National Invitation Tournament (NIT), despite playing with scholarship restrictions due to a pre-existing probation. Schroyer also coached with Cleveland at Fresno City College (1996-97) and BYU (1997-01). At BYU, he was part of a resurgence that saw the Cougars improve from a 1-25 record in 1996, the year prior to the coaching staff's arrival, to an NIT appearance in 2000, and a league championship and an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2001. After leaving BYU in 2001, Schroyer joined the staff at Wyoming for the 2001-02 season. The Cowboys won the MWC Regular Season Championship, earned their first trip in 14 years to the NCAA Tournament and upset Gonzaga, the sixth ranked team in the nation, in the tournament's first round. With Schroyer in charge of the defense, the Cowboys led the MWC in field-goal-percentage defense, defensive rebounding and rebound margin. Schroyer left Wyoming to become the second youngest Division I head coach (age 30) when he was hired at Portland State in April of 2002. In his three seasons at Portland State, he led the Vikings to steady and marked improvement. In his first season (2002-03), the Vikings won five games. In his second year, they won 11. His final season of 2004-05, he directed PSU to a 19-9 record, an 11-3 Big Sky Conference record and the first Division I conference championship by a Portland State team. PSU was one of the top-three turnaround programs in the nation in 2004-05 as ranked by CollegeInsider.com. The program was also ranked as one of the top-25 turnarounds by CollegeInsider.com following the 2003-04 season. In his first year at Portland State, the Vikings were restricted to six scholarship players and in his second season, that scholarship total increased to nine. Finally, in his final season at Portland State the Vikings had a full set of scholarships. Those scholarship restrictions were due to the NCAA's 5/8 rule at the time. Not only did that `04-'05 Viking team set a school record for consecutive conference wins (seven), but it was the only team in the Big Sky to boast a winning road record. The Vikings were ranked 10th in the nation in field goal percentage (.492) and 15th in assists per game (16.8). In addition, Schroyer coached the nation's assist leader, Will Funn, and the country's 16th-best scorer, Seamus Boxley. With the hiring of Schroyer at Wyoming, he and UW Athletics Director Tom Burman renew a professional relationship that began when Burman hired Schroyer as the head men's basketball coach at Portland State. "I am honored to be the head basketball coach at Wyoming," Schroyer said. "I believe that this basketball program has unlimited potential. This is a special place with tremendous support from some great fans. It is my goal to make this program something that every Cowboy fan can be proud of." A native of Walkersville, Md., Schroyer played high school basketball at DeMatha High School in Hyattsville, Md., under Hall of Fame coach Morgan Wootten. Schroyer was an All-Conference performer at Kings River Community College (Reedley, Calif.), and led his team to the California Junior College Final Four in 1991-92. He finished his collegiate career at Armstrong Atlantic State (Savannah, Ga.) where, as a senior, he was a team captain and led his team to the NCAA Division II Sweet 16. Schroyer will enter the 2009-10 season at the age of 37 (March 15, 1972). He earned his bachelor's degree in liberal studies from Armstrong Atlantic State in 1995, and his master's in institutional leadership from National University (Fresno, Calif.) in 1996. Schroyer and his wife, Karen, have one son, Hayden, who is eight years old. |
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