WyoHoops

THROWBACK THURSDAY: TARAN BROWN HAD THE SLIDERS TURNED UP 🎮😭

Taran was a dog but also the nicest kid you ever met! Give you 25 and smile in your face the whole time!  The 6'7" Campbell County cheat code was out here running a crazy build in Wyoming 4A:

🔥 20.1 PPG
🧱 8.9 RPG
🚫 2.4 BPG
🥷 2.0 SPG

Big fella could score, rebound, steal your lunch money and send your layup back with a tracking number.

Above all though was the 2011 4A State Championship against Laramie…

Taran dropped 25 points and went a perfect 8-FOR-8 FROM THE FIELD while Campbell County beat the brakes off Laramie, 60–33, to bring home the chip. 🏆

Eight shots. Eight buckets. In the state championship.

That wasn’t a hot streak.

That was homey pausing the game, opening the settings and sliding his field-goal percentage all the way to 99 when you go to the bathroom. 😭

Meanwhile, Laramie scored only 33 points as an entire team. Taran almost caught them by himself in a championship game while helping Campbell County put the absolute clamps on everything breathing! 

By graduation, Taran owned Campbell County records for:

🏀 1,175 career points
💪 540 career rebounds
🚫 148 career blocks
🎯 453 career field goals

He also earned two First-Team All-State selections, became a McDonald’s All-American nominee and was named the 2010–11 Wyoming Gatorade Player of the Year.

And just when Montana thought Wyoming basketball was done with him, Taran gave them 31 points and 9 rebounds in the Wyoming–Montana All-Star series—then hit a double-clutch three with three seconds left to force overtime.

Bro didn’t believe in losing.

He just kept entering cheat codes until the scoreboard cooperated. 😭

6'7". Buckets. Bounce. Blocks. State champion.

Taran Brown wasn’t playing the same game as everybody else.

Bro was the game-breaking build they patch after everybody complains. 🔥

If you ever had to guard him—or tried putting up a shot anywhere near him—tap in and tell us how quickly you realized the difficulty settings were broken. 👀

Who should we put on Throwback Thursday next? ⬇️

CODY’S COLE SHEPARD REALLY BEEN HIM…! A BIG MAN WITH GUARD SKILLS AND SOME BOUNCE 😭🏀

Meet Cole Shepard, one of our Breakout Freshmen from Wyoming’s incoming Class of 2026.

Cole stands about 6'2" with the size to guard your big—but please don’t confuse bro for some basic screen-setting, corner-standing 3-and-D starter kit big man.. nahhh...

The handle is real.
The jumper is elite.
And it ain’t just catch-and-shoot either.

Cole can grab the board, push the break himself and pull up before the defense finishes yelling, “Who got ball?!” 😭

His eighth-grade season was a full-blown showcase, leading Cody to a perfect 15-0 record while making it extremely obvious that bro has been living in the gym.

Big-man size.
Guard controls.
Elite level shooting range.

That build wasn’t supposed to be available in the freshman settings. 🎮🔥

Cole hasn’t played a Wyoming varsity game yet—but if eighth grade was the preview, Cody might want to clear some space in the trophy case.

How much noise will Cole Shepard make during his freshman season? 👀

WyomingBasketball HighSchoolHoops

Kobe protro 5 xray 🐍
https://www.nike.com/ph/launch/t/kobe-5-protro-deep-royal-blue

BREAKOUT FRESHMAN WARNING: DARIUS SWENSON IS COMING TO HIGH SCHOOL WITH A NATIONAL RANKING AND GROWN-MAN DIMENSIONS. 😭🏀

Rock Springs freshman Darius Swenson is already about 6'2", long, athletic and built like somebody forgot to check the age settings.

Bro has been a man amongst boys for several seasons—and Wyoming hasn’t even seen him in a varsity jersey yet. 👀

Darius spent his recent summers getting tested in Utah with the Utah Sonic and Utah Mountain Stars, becoming a nationally rated Top-100 prospect in the Class of 2030.. Which ironically was his team name at the Thermopolis tournament where he started handing out buckets to his own graduating class like it was a charity drive. One for you.. One for you… 

That wasn’t foreshadowing.
That was a warning. 🚨

Bronisnalready committed to The utah's best freshman showcase... And he aint even from there. 💯

The varsity résumé starts now—but the work definitely didn’t.

How big of an impact will Darius make during his freshman season? 👀🔥

WyomingBasketball HighSchoolHoops

THE SHOES WERE ALMOST AS LOUD AS THE CROWD THIS SUMMER…! 👟🏆🔥

Kobe Reverse Grinches! 🐍
Kobe 6s! Those had Wyoming in a chokehold.
The Ja 3’s! Stayed clocked in all summer. 😤
Kobe Zoom 5 Protros! Certified classics.

And hold up… did we really catch a pair of Wemby PEs in the Wyoming wilderness?! 👽👀

Swipe through the evidence.

Which pair was yours—and which one went the hardest? NikeJa Wemby SneakerCheck

TO THE COACHES HOLDING WYOMING HOOPS TOGETHER WITH NOTHIN' BUT A WHISTLE, A WHITEBOARD AND ABSOLUTELY NO FREE TIME—THIS ONE’S FOR YOU. 🫡🏀

Before the highlights, trophies and big moments, somebody had to organize practice, teach the game, demand more and remind everybody—for the fifth time—to get back on defense, and for the loce of everytbing holy use the glass!

We’re grateful for all of the cosches that made it tot he Summer Showcase this year, but this goes beyond that... 💯

Shoutout to every coach across Wyoming giving their time and energy to help kids learn teamwork, discipline and the healthy competition of high school athletics.

It isn’t always easy. The hours are long, the pressure is real sometimes and somebody’s parent always has a substitution suggestion or a way they used to do it 😭

Still, these coaches keep showing up for their players and communities and put that school's name on their back every day - and Wyoming basketball is better because of it.

Thank you for building the game. Thanks to your families for standing behind you! And thank you for helping make these opportunities possible! 💯

This yesr has been crazy, and honestly, we’re just getting started. What’s next is going to be different. 👀🔥 And were stoked you're a part of it!

WyomingCoaches

THE FUTURE OF WYOMING HOOPS AIN’T WAITING ITS TURN. 👀🔥

These are some of the boys nominated for the top spots in Wyoming’s incoming freshman class by you:

🏀 Cole Shepherd — Cody
🏀 Orion Hill — Cody
🏀 Ramsey Moline — Big Horn
🏀 Paxton Prevecek — Hulett
🏀 Colby Gallinger — Douglas
🏀 Melo Smith — Riverton
🏀 William Garrison — Thermopolis
🏀 Braxton Voneye — Newcastle
🏀 Brayden Voneye — Newcastle

Freshmen on paper.

But a few of these boys might walk into varsity practice looking for an upperclassman’s minutes immediately. 😭

So let’s hear it:

Who makes the biggest varsity impact THIS season?
Who becomes a full-blown dog by senior year?
And whose name are we missing? 👀

Tag your pick below—and bring receipts, because we’re saving this post. 🧾🔥

WyomingHoops NextUp

THROWBACK THURSDAY: JOHN SOUNDINGSIDES DROPPED MORE THAN THE ENTIRE OTHER TEAM. 😭🚨

In 2012, Wyoming Indian’s John Soundingsides dropped 65 on Shoshoni!

Shoshoni had 42… 👀

That is not a win.. That is vehicular homicide. 🚓

John hit 17 threes that night. SEVENTEEN! Some say they heard Kobe yell "John" on a shot attempt during his last game 🤷‍♂️ We'll never know..

Bro was moving like he was ducking 12, swerving through traffic, pulling from wherever. Watch the game film on that fr! Eyes on the goal. Stick and move. On to the next one. 🎯

He was launching 12.7 threes a game that season. That is not shot selection, that is an emergency broadcast system. 😭 but my guy was doing it averaging 33.5% on the 22-1 season.

And he wasn’t just a one-night shooter, either:

22.8 PPG
5.7 APG
3.9 SPG

Then in the 2A state title game, Wyoming Indian was down 37–27 to Lovell. It was starting to look all but over for them boys until John hit the gas, scored 10 during a nasty 20–2 run, and the Chiefs brought home the championship, 68–57. 🏆

That 65-piece also earned John the NUCLEAR BADGE on the WyoHoops Player Portal. ☢️

Only a few players in Wyoming history have put up the kind of numbers that unlock it.

Historic shooter.
State champion.
Certified highway hazard.

Certified bucket!

If you played against John Soundingsides, tap in. How many threes did he have before y’all started checking the rims for magnets? 👀

Who’s up next?

WyomingBasketball HighSchoolHoops WyoBasketball