MOUNTAIN WEST MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

March 8, 2023

Sundance Wicks

Hunter Maldonado

Hunter Thompson

Xavier DuSell

Thomas & Mack Center

Wyoming Cowboys

Postgame Press Conference

New Mexico 87, Wyoming 76

SUNDANCE WICKS: I think all you have to do is look down this table and see the two Hunters. I understand this is a story of life. I don't envy the undefeated or those who don't have scars. I don't envy anybody that has a clean run in this race.

I respect the hell out of these two dudes. Hard to talk about, because people don't usually remember how you played. They remember what you gave. When you can serve like they have served and you can lead like they have led, because you don't become a leader in the good times, you become a leader in the tough times. They'll learn how to be better family men and fathers and husbands because of this, because they know what it's like to persevere.

That's what this process is about. It's about making men. It's not about chasing the next fun thing and not feeling anything because when we sit in that locker room, we talk about feel everything. If a sophomore or freshman or junior can learn how to feel what they're feeling as seniors, that's called empathy. If you can be empathetic as a human being, then you can live a life that's worth living. I said this about Hunter Thompson. God didn't gift him with the greatest athletic ability. Sorry, Hunter. But they gifted him with a beautiful spirit, a great soul, and he brings a lot of levity to any situation. He has a terrible mustache (laughing).

He is a phenomenal human being. This is the type of guy -- Coach Vandiver always says he is the type of guy that you would let marry your daughter. That's the kind of human being Hunter Thompson is.

Hunter Maldonado, the greatest compliment you can give any human being is to be consistent, accountable every day to show up the same way every single day. Whoever gets to marry this guy is going to be really damn lucky. Sorry, Hunter Thompson. We like to be the brunt of the jokes.

Maldo shows up every day, he is the same person. To me that's what this story is about. We decide what we write as humans. We don't get to let anybody else tell the story. Maldo said this in the locker room, and then I'll let these guys talk because it's about these guys. You know, you can give everything you've got every single day your entire career and still not have the fairy tale ending. Most people don't get the fairy tale ending. I love Disney movies, but Disney movies are also full of crap sometimes, all right?

We just don't all get to marry Prince Eric. We don't get that fairytale ending all the time. What we get is we get to see the real side of human beings in this profession. He get the real side of men, real side of young men, growing up. That's what's important. If he we ever lose sight of that because we start thinking about the ledgers of wins and losses, then we have failed a society and we failed as fans and we have failed as a university and we have failed as coaches.

That's where this game needs to go, in a certain direction where it's not transactional. It's transformational. It needs to stay transformational. To me that's the most important part of this process. We can transform young men into grown men that can be self-sufficient, productive humans in society. These two dudes, I got no worries about what they're going to do the rest of their life. I'm just going to have to watch the story unfold, because at the end of the day a long, long time from now about 40, 50 years, they'll have the fairytale ending.

They'll live a life that's worth living. I'm just so proud of these guys. I'm happy for these guys because of what they endured and what they went through, because the rest of their life they're going to be able to draw back on these experiences with though no regrets. No regrets.

A lot of people have too many regrets nowadays because they chase what they want right now or what they need most. Just the satisfaction side of it. I'm proud of these guys. I'm proud of this team.

Feel free to open up any questions to these two young men because they can provide us with a lot more knowledge than I'll ever be able to give you and they can provide us with a lot more knowledge than a lot of human beings that played the game of basketball because six years is a long damn time.

THE MODERATOR: We'll take questions for the student-athletes.

Q. Maldo, what goes through your mind when you are hearing Coach Pitino talk about you the way he was and what sun dance just said? Your general emotions as it ends here?

HUNTER MALDONADO: Yeah, I think I'm obviously pretty emotional right now, but at the end of the day all that work, that's why I work so hard, is to get that respect from Coach Pitino to leave a legacy like I've tried to leave at Wyoming.

Honestly, I'm thinking about a lot of stuff right now, so it's kind of hard to single those two out and think about them. I would have to think about them more. That's what first comes to mind.

Q. Maldo, the fans right now are tweeting out their appreciation for you and what you have done during your career. What have the fans meant to you, for one? And for two, what do you think you learned most about yourself through this trying season?

HUNTER MALDONADO: The fans mean a lot because I know the ones that come out and show out every single day, the ones that support us every day through and through versus the ones that don't. The ones that don't, I don't care if they say anything. The ones that have stayed there and supported us even from our freshman year to we won two seasons and then we lost, I know who they are and I appreciate them just as much.

They've helped me. That's why I stayed, is for them. They're a big reason because I know how much love and how much love they have for us and how far that can actually go in life.

I've met some really, really good people there. What was your second half of that?

Q. What did you learn most about yourself through this trying season?

HUNTER MALDONADO: I think more of who I am as a person. I think in the fire you kind of -- it kind of washes all the distractions away. It gets down to who you really are at your pillar, at your core. I think I figured out a lot about myself, a lot about what I need to focus on to be a good person to figure out that wins and losses, yeah, they're nice, but being a leader and figuring out that people count on you, you can't be selfish.

You have to go out to find a way to help them learn, help them be better than they were before. That was a big part of me this year is figuring that out.

Q. What's it like having Hunter Maldonado as your teammate, and what do you think he'll be remembered the most for at Wyoming?

XAVIER DUSELL: Well, first off, you know, he has been a tremendous leader to myself and the rest of the guys in the locker room, and he has taught me so much.

Not only as a player, but, you know, how to be a man and how to show up every single day with your hard hat on ready to go to work regardless of the circumstances.

Yeah, I mean, he is just a class guy and it's been an honor to be able to wear the brown and gold next to him.

HUNTER THOMPSON: I'll tell him what I feel in 30 minutes.

Q. Hunter, it's been a long time since you were in Colorado Springs as a kid. You talked about transformational changes. When you look off the court and just yourself from the time you arrived at Wyo to the time now, in what ways have you changed the most?

HUNTER MALDONADO: I think just the mindset. Obviously, more mature than I was trying to take away from everybody, coaches. I've had a lot of coaches just in terms of having that coaching change, just trying to take the best out of everybody and apply it to myself and kind of find my own way to do things.

I mean, in Colorado Springs -- when I left Colorado Springs I was still in high school. I was 17 going on 18 are when I got to Wyoming.

For me the mindset has been the biggest thing and trying to transform and find myself and who I am as a person. I kind of hit on that earlier. Going through so much adversity, you find yourself and find a way to fight and realize every day is going to be a fight, and you've got to go out there. If you don't go out there and fight, then at the end of the day you're probably going to be a step behind somebody, and I don't want that to happen.

Q. For someone who has had such a long educational career, what have you been able to maximize with that? How have you utilized that?

HUNTER MALDONADO: I got two bachelors, and I'll finish my masters in about, what, May, so a month and a half. So I got a bachelor's in economics, a bachelor's in finance, and I'll get my masters in finance.

SUNDANCE WICKS: Dr. Maldonado to everyone else out here. Address him as doctor.

Q. Either Hunter, I saw you guys embrace there at the end of the game. How special has it been to go through these last six years together?

HUNTER MALDONADO: He doesn't feel like talking. He is a little emotional. No, I love him with everything in my core. I give him a really, really hard time ever since my freshman year just because I know he is somebody that gets a lot of love. I was trying to make him realize he has to get going. I think he finally realized that the last two years.

But the relationship I have with him will never fade, will never die. He is a friend I'm going to have for life, a brother I'm going to have for life. I always joke about with him I know it's going to be emotional -- because we live together too now. Don't get it wrong. We've lived together for five of the six years, so I really have nothing but love for him.

Even though I give him a hard time, I think he knows I love him and just trying to get the best out of him.

Q. Maldo, unfortunately, Jeff is not here. I think if he were here he would keep harping on this theme he has about loyalty and that he is not the easiest coach to play for, he is not for everyone. What would you say to any guys in the locker room that are thinking about doing this somewhere else?

HUNTER MALDONADO: Yeah, I think first and foremost, he is exactly where he needs to be. I texted him. I talked to him a little bit, but he needs to be with his dad where are he needs to be with his family and be there in a hard time.

We get really caught up in basketball because that's our lives. But at the same time you have to realize the big picture and realize that's his father. At the end of the day that's way more important. That's the guy that helped him grow up, and I -- like coach was saying, empathy, I could never imagine losing my dad yet.

For me that's really hard. Like I said, he is exactly where he needs to be, and for those people that say he is not easy to play for, I mean, he is going to keep saying that, but he is easy to play for. If you are about the right stuff, he is easy to play for. He gets on me when I do something wrong, like every coach should, but that's holding you accountable. If he didn't do that, I don't think I would be any good. I think this generation is a little soft when it comes to that.

It's really hard. I think we take it a little personal sometimes, but like I told everybody in the locker room, I think when you take it personal, it's because you're not making your effort personal. You're not going out there and giving it everything you have, and if we can't find a way to get you fired up, you're going to take it personal and we try to get you fired up.

For me he was really easy to play for. It was really easy to make the decision to stay. It was really easy to make the decision to come back to school for this sixth year.

I love him with everything. I know he has my back, and I'll always have his back. But he is one of the best coaches I've ever had. Transformed me into something that I think you guys have been able to see the last two years, and nothing bad to say about him. I love him so much.

SUNDANCE WICKS: I think what you have to add on that too is what makes Jeff great is that he reminds me of my college coach. My college coach said somewhere in life you need to meet someone who expects greatness out of you. Too many times I think we shy away from somebody who actually looked at somebody and says I believe in you and I expect great things out of you.

We shy away from that work and we shy away from that responsibility because we don't want to be that person. Maybe we don't believe that we can be that person. Our job as coaches and what makes Coach Linder so phenomenal is that he is going to look deep inside of you and he is going to say, I expect you to be great. I want you to do great things. I want you to meet this standard. I want you to meet these expectations.

That's what makes a great coach, is drawing something out of somebody that they never even thought they had in themselves. That's what makes a great father. That's why Coach is where he is right now, with his dad, because when your parents draw things out of you, they help you grow up. Everybody can feel and agree that your mom or your dad, whoever has raised you, and if both of them raised you, that that's where anybody should be at any moment with those guys.

That's the type of leader he is. That's the type of leader we need. We need more of that nowadays because that's why these guys stayed. That's why they played. For that guy, for this program, for the brown and gold, and for the people sitting in the locker room right now. That commitment should always be honored.

THE MODERATOR: Gentlemen, you're free to go. We'll continue with Coach.

Q. Sunny, unfortunately, the offseason starts today and the fans want to know and talking to Tom Burman, he just said he expects Graham Ike to be a Cowboy next year. Do you expect that, and do you expect this roster to remain intact?

SUNDANCE WICKS: I mean, I should just call myself Miss Cleo, right? Get a crystal ball and see what happens. I think any college coach that's sitting in this situation needs to let the next 24 hours soak in and just sit back and relax a little bit, because I know it starts tomorrow for you guys, but hell, it ain't starting for me yet, all right?

I can tell you that. I'm going to go back and hug those guys in the locker room and love those guys up and have some dinner tonight. What happens is you trade stories. You sit back and laugh and you let the weight of the world fall off your shoulders and decompress a little bit. Then you go evaluate what's going to happen.

Guess what? In this world right now everybody gets a choice. Everybody gets to make a decision. It used to be, you know, if someone -- if someone decided to leave, they had to sit out a year. Maybe they weighed that choice a little bit differently. Now it's free 99 for everybody. Everybody has a choice.

At the end of the day that's why you have offseason meetings. You go back and sit down and reconvene. Everybody gets to talk about what's going to happen next. For me, I can't play miss Cleo right now, Cody. I wish I could for you, but it's not my job and I'm not very good at it.

But you can call my free toll line and help pay for some of my kids' hospital bills or something like that if you want some sort of future prediction coming up. All right?

Q. Sunny, how do you think this adversity will make Jeff and the coaching staff better in the future?

SUNDANCE WICKS: This is part of the process, man. My college coach, Don Meyer used to say, you coach long enough, you'll see everything. This is one of those years where you saw everything in a year. Usually you get one of these things throughout the course of a year, what happens when it just piles on and stacks on.

You know, God doesn't give you things that you can't handle. So for this program for the coaches, all of this stuff is an adversity assist, right? You have to look at it in a forward positive way of thinking. You have to look at things relentlessly optimistic and know it's not going to be this way forever.

It's this way for a day or month or season in your life. You keep pushing forward. What happens in this process is you go through it and learn from it. It's like we talked about I think last week. There should be a chip on everyone's shoulder when you go through something like this, but that chip isn't because you're mad about things. That chip is just created as an edge, right?

We just need a little bit of edge in life. Sometimes we need to be reminded how to keep our edge, and certain things can help you distort your competitive reality going forward, so you don't get complacency.

Complacency is another issue in this life. Everyone just wants to sit back and let things happen. Sometimes you have to go make things happen. For people that are going to be back on this roster and coaches that are going to be in our program, we're going to go make things happen. That's our job.

We're going to use that as an edge going forward because we're going to remember every single thing that happened this year. It's blazed inside you. It's just burned inside you. You feel these things at such a high level that, you know, if it's June 18th and we're in the middle of a summer practice and we start to see a little bit of slippage, we're going to talk about, all right, so we remember what last year was. We remember how we felt last year. So let's crank it up right now. Let's get it going.

That's all you need to spark a little bit of fire. To spark a little bit of, you know what, it's not going to be like this again.

That's our responsibility as coaches and our responsibility as leaders, is to constantly remind and reinforce what it was when we felt like this, so we try to not feel like this again next year.

Q. Sunny, Maldo's performance today kind of willed you guys and did everything. Did you guys just kind of run out of gas today? Also, he never shows emotion. He was not happy about fouling out of that one.

SUNDANCE WICKS: I mean, there's a lot of things I could say about Hunter Maldonado, right? I mean, that dude about got punched in the face two times on a dribble-down, right? Got a hand right in his face. Got punched in the face. That's UFC. That's not basketball. I know that dude right there, like, playing through that, he did not want the season to end.

That's why we talk in the locker room about feeling is because if you can learn what it's like to be a senior as a freshman or a sophomore or ray junior, then you can understand what it means to play that last game or to play that game that has some finality attached to it with a little bit of different energy, with a little bit of different hope or a little bit of different power and perseverance so you don't just kind of wilt sometimes.

He did, he willed us to a lot of possessions today, but I have to give a lot of credit to New Mexico, right? Jaelen House is different. That dude's competitive spirit and fire, he wasn't down there when we played in the pit. We know how Jaelen House can turn a game.

That's the type of emotion and passion that you see sometimes from those teams that have great players and great leaders. That dude changed the game. We said going in if Mashburn hits 20 points on 20 shots, we'll be happy with that. Well, what did he do? He got 22 on 20 shots. We would be pretty happy with that performance on Mashburn, because we knew he was going to get it going.

House was the X factor tonight. He was really, really good. You have to give him credit to be able to step up and make those plays. At the end of the day when you have to have players make plays, Maldo made a lot for us, but if you look from a game perspective, players have to step up and make plays. Players play, and tough players win. I thought they were the tougher team tonight. They got more winning plays, more 50/50 offensive rebounds that kept their possessions alive.

THE MODERATOR: Very good. Thank you, Coach.