Wyoming won the national championship in 1943. Shortly after their triumph, several Cowboys started training for a bigger fight: World War II.
A new movie about the Cowboys’ epic championship game victory against St. John’s in fabled Madison Square Garden premieres Thursday in Laramie, Wyo.
The 61-minute documentary includes interviews with Kenny Sailors, the last surviving Cowboys player in the game; players Jimmie Reese and Tony Katana, and the children of Cowboys players Milo Komenich, Floyd Volker and Lew Roney.Sailors, 93, was the shooting guard on the 1943 team and was the national player of the year. He was inducted into the National College Basketball Hall of Fame and is widely credited as the innovator of the modern-day jump shot.
Also interviewed are former U.S. Sen. Alan K. Simpson, who drove for miles with his parents to listen to this historic game on the radio, and played for the Cowboys a decade later; Marialyce Barrett Tobin, who attended the game and is the daughter of a former Wyoming governor; Jim Brandenburg, former Wyoming coach; Tracy Ringolsby, Hall of Fame sportswriter; and Ken Cook, former Wyoming football player.
The film is narrated by Dave Walsh, in his 30th season as voice of Cowboys basketball and football, and directed by Kim Komenich, son of star Cowboys center Milo Komenich.
“This Cowboys movie was obviously a labor of love for me because that team was very important to my dad," Komenich said. "But everyone we talked with is really happy this story is now a documentary film! There is Cowboys’ Pride everywhere in Wyoming.”
See a preview of Cowboys at http://cowboysmovie.com/
