| WyomingAthletics.com | WEB |
|
Heath Schroyer is entering his second season as the head basketball coach at the University of Wyoming. Schroyer's first season at the helm of the Cowboys was highlighted by a trip to the championship game of the 2007 UTEP Sun Bowl Tournament, a December non-conference win over Colorado and regular season sweeps of Mountain West Conference rivals Utah and Colorado State. Schroyer also guided Brandon Ewing to numerous post season accolades after Ewing led the Mountain West Conference in scoring for the second consecutive season. Ewing was named Second Team All-MWC by the leagues coaches and media, All-District VII by the United States Basketball Writers Association and Second Team All-District 13 by the National Association of Basketball Coaches. In his first season at Wyoming, the Cowboys played with just eight scholarship players due to injuries and APR restrictions. Schroyer was introduced as the 20th head coach in Wyoming basketball history by UW Athletics director Tom Burman on Friday, March 23. With his hiring, Schroyer returned to the Wyoming basketball program for a second time as he was previously an assistant coach at UW during the 2001-02 season. During that 2001-02 season, Schroyer helped guide the Cowboys to the 2002 MWC Regular Season Championship and to the Second Round of the 2002 NCAA Tournament. The Cowboys defeated Gonzaga, the sixth ranked team in the nation, in the opening round of the tournament before falling to Arizona in the second round. Schroyer came to the University of Wyoming with the goal of returning the basketball program to the top of the MWC, where it was during the 2001-02 season. Schroyer has had great success in his career with guiding teams back to success, which is evident with his work at Portland State and as an assistant at Fresno State and BYU. Schroyer and Burman also renew their professional relationship, as Burman hired Schroyer as head men's basketball coach at Portland State University in the spring of 2002. "From the beginning of the search, our goal was to find the coach who could lead this program back to the top of the Mountain West Conference," Burman said. "In Heath, we have an individual who has been part of significant rebuilding jobs at Brigham Young, Fresno State and Portland State. Each became better when he got involved." "I am honored and extremely excited to be the head basketball coach at Wyoming," Schroyer said. "I know how important this program is to the state of Wyoming and to Cowboy fans throughout the country. It is my belief that this job has unlimited potential. It is a special place. I know we can be successful because I was a part of a very successful time here. I have been in this league, and I know what it takes. "We are going to build a program that will make every Cowboy fan proud. We will do it with a great work ethic, something the people of this state know all about." Prior to accepting the Wyoming job, Schroyer had been 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 for the 2006-07 season, and placed third in the Western Athletic Conference behind Nevada and New Mexico State. Fresno State lost in the first round of the 2007 National Invitation Tournament (NIT) to Georgia. Schroyer also coached with Cleveland at Fresno City College (1996-97) and Brigham Young University (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 to the NCAA Tournament in 14 years and upset Gonzaga 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 as Portland State's head coach 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 conference championship by a Portland State men's team in 20 years. 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. These 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. Schroyer has been involved in winning three league championships at three different NCAA Division I programs. A native of Walkersville, Md., Schroyer played high school basketball at DeMatha High School in Hyattsville, Md., under legendary 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.). As a senior there, he was a team captain, and led the team to the NCAA Division II Sweet 16. Schroyer will enter the 2008-09 season at the age of 36 (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 seven years old. |
|
|||||||||||||||
