Heath Schroyer
	Position: Head Coach Experience: 4th yr Degree: Armstrong Atlantic State `95

Now entering his fourth season as the head basketball coach of the Wyoming Cowboys, Heath Schroyer believes the pieces are in place to make a run in the very competitive Mountain West Conference.

Schroyer, who was hired as the 20th head coach in Wyoming Cowboy Basketball history on March 23, 2007, is excited about returning a core of players that has gained a great deal of experience at the NCAA Division I level.

At Wyoming, Schroyer has recruited two of the best freshmen in the country over the past two years in Afam Muojeke and Desmar Jackson. Muojeke was the 2009 MWC Freshman of the Year and Desmar Jackson was named to the MWC's Third Team in 2010. Muojeke was selected as a 2009 Honorable Mention All-Freshman by Collegehoops.net. Jackson was one of only 20 freshmen named to the CollegeInsider.com Freshman All-America Team in 2010. Muojeke is the MWC's all-time leading freshman scorer and Jackson ranks No. 9 on that list.

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 MWC 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.

The 2009-10 season was marked by youth and injuries. The Cowboys not only had the third fewest upperclassmen in all of Division I basketball, they also had to battle a rash of injuries. The Pokes lost their top-returning scorer Afam Muojeke to a season-ending knee injury during the first half of MWC play. They also spent much of the season with a less than healthy center. Returning starter Adam Waddell was less than 100 percent for the entire season. He had knee surgery prior to the season, then suffered a high ankle sprain during MWC play and also battled some back issues. Fellow center Boubacar Sylla ended up being medically disqualified following the season and played limited minutes throughout the year due to a bad foot.

An area that Schroyer placed a great deal of emphasis on during his first three 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 at the time and regained a full 13 scholarships for the 2009-10 season. Currently, the team's single-year APR is the highest it has ever been. During the summer of 2010, Schroyer was ranked No. 3 in the country by FoxSports.com for APR improvements over the past three seasons.

"We have accomplished a lot in three short years," said Schroyer. "The culture of our program has done a 180, we are on solid ground academically and have regained all of our scholarships. We also received the first postseason bid at UW since 2003. I truly believe all of this has led us to the point where this program will reap the fruits of our labor over the next few years."

One area in which the Cowboys have excelled under Schroyer is getting to the free throw line and converting. In 2008-09, the Cowboys led the nation in made free throws and ranked second in attempts. In 2009-10, the Pokes ranked No. 6 nationally in attempted free throws and No. 7 in made free throws.

In his time at Wyoming, Schroyer's Cowboys have received a great deal of individual attention. In three years, a Cowboy has been named All-MWC five 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. Desmar Jackson was named to the Third Team in 2010.

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.

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, despite playing with scholarship restrictions due to a pre-existing probation. That marked the last time FSU has been in the postseason.

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 male or female 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.

Upon his hiring, Schroyer said "I am honored to be the head basketball coach at Wyoming. 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 build this program into something that makes every Cowboy fan proud."

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 2010-11 season at the age of 38 (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 nine years old.