New Univ. of Wyoming President on Athletics: ‘We Will Compete’
LARAMIE -- "Build the team."
That's the initial task on the list for Brigadier General Shane Reeves, who last week was named the 29th president of the University of Wyoming.
The Sweetwater County native wants competence and innovation to surround not only himself but also accelerate the growth of the state's lone four-year institution in every aspect from research to enrollment numbers.
"I'm really interested in the future and helping the university both connect to the state's broader economic development and helping transform the university to make sure our graduates are successful in this age of (artificial intelligence), which is really changing everything about Higher Education, and, truthfully, local, state and national economies," Reeves told KGAB's Doug Randall. "I think we can lead in all in that space."
That's not all.
Reeves, who will permanently slide into his new role this July, said he thinks the school can be the "crown jewel" of the Mountain West. Not just speaking about the region, the athletic conference the Cowboys and Cowgirls currently compete in.
He called modern day college athletics -- from Name, Image and Likeness to revenue sharing to the NCAA Transfer Portal -- the "Wild West."
"Which means that we are perfectly situated, being the Cowboys," Reeves added.
Can Wyoming contend in this current landscape?
"I think we have to compete," he continued. "It's hard, don't get me wrong ... but there isn't a choice. There is one four-year institution in the state of Wyoming, and athletics is critical to so much of our culture and our pride in the state.
"So, we not only need to compete, we will compete."
A recent sponsorship deal with Tallgrass will certainly help matters.
The energy company based out of Kansas City will spent $4.5 million to have their logo on the uniforms of the football team, along with men's and women's sports. Wyoming Athletics Director Tom Burman said Tuesday "$450,000 -- minimum" will be allocated to revenue sharing on an annual basis over the next five years.
He is also seeking companies he hopes will plaster their name on the field inside War Memorial Stadium, on the team's indoor practice facility and at the Arena-Auditorium.
"We'd love to get all of them done," said Burman, who recently told the UW Board of Trustees it would take roughly "$8 million" a year in revenue share to compete for championships. "But, as you can imagine, in a state like Wyoming, there are limited companies that can bite this kind of price point. I mean, when I say limited, it's limited. So, we have to be patient. We have to work with those companies and see if we can get a deal."
Head football coach Jay Sawvel announced in late January he has given more than $125,000 of his own salary to NIL efforts and to retain certain staff members. The school launched a matching program and an anonymous donor did just that. Burman is hoping that total can climb to at least $500,000
Sundance Wicks, head men's basketball coach, said in February he has also donated $50,000 per year to help out his own cause. Women's basketball coach Heather Ezell and wrestling coach Mark Branch, along with Burman himself, have also given back "major gifts" to the athletic department.
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Sports, Reeves said, is the front porch of a university. Though "73%" of the current student population hails from the Cowboy State, he said when a kid in South Carolina, for instance, witnesses "Wyoming beating up on Colorado State on ESPN," that could serve as motivation to head west. He also mentioned the popularity of former quarterback and current Buffalo Bills signal caller Josh Allen, saying Western New York is now full of brown and gold.
In his opening comments after landing the gig, Reeves said one of the things he's looking forward to most is "watching our Pokes dominate in sports this fall."
They will do just that, he added, at the FBS level in football.
Yes, he's heard the chatter from some that Wyoming should drop down a division in order to compete with the likes of Montana and Montana State. He said that fictitious proposal would be "catastrophic" for not only the university but also the state.
"There are universities that are not moving forward right now, and there's this belief that you're safe to maintain the status quo or you can make decisions to diminish your competitiveness across the various programs that you have at the university," he continued. "That's a really big mistake. Those institutions that are trying to stay status quo or are going to step down and how they compete, they're going to slide toward irrelevance.
"In higher education, there are haves and have-nots -- and there's a growing divide. It's just not a option for the University of Wyoming to be in the have-nots category. It has to be in the haves category. So, it has to compete in all the things in terms of recruiting, needs to compete in sports and it needs to compete in research connected to Wyoming-centric industry. It needs to be viewed, as, I would say, the most prominent institution in the region."
Get to know President Reeves:
Reeves will retire from the Army after 30 years of service, the last five as the chief academic officer at West Point, where he has led more than 700 faculty and staff members across 13 academic departments with an annual budget of about $80 million. An attorney, he’s a globally recognized international scholar whose career bridges higher education, military service and the law.
After graduating from Rock Springs High School in 1992, Reeves enrolled at West Point and earned a bachelor’s degree in European history in 1996. He began his Army career as an armor officer with the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, leading soldiers at the platoon and troop levels and establishing a foundation of tactical and organizational leadership.
Reeves earned a Juris Doctor from the College of William and Mary in 2003 and was deployed in support of combat operations in Iraq as a brigade judge advocate, advising commanders on operations, detainee prosecutions and international law. For his combat service in Iraq, he received the Bronze Star.
After receiving a Master of Law in Military Law from the Judge Advocate General’s School of the U.S. Army in 2008, he directed and taught courses at that institution in constitutional and military law, jurisprudence, legal theory, international law and rules of engagement. Reeves moved to West Point in 2011, serving as a professor and deputy head of the Department of Law, where he was a prolific scholar with over 35 peer-reviewed publications and other articles about armed conflict and national security. He became the head of the Department of Law in 2020 before receiving the appointment as dean of the Academic Board in 2021.
In that role, he has driven institutional transformation by advancing education, research and partnerships that prepare leaders for complex global challenges. In founding both the West Point Werx Innovation Hub and the West Point Press, he has accelerated the U.S. Military Academy’s position as the intellectual engine of the Army’s innovation ecosystem.
“Throughout my Army career, I have worked with and learned from amazing people who are engaged daily in important work for our nation where communicating, innovating, winning and, most importantly, leading with character are essential,” Reeves says. “I look forward to applying those same characteristics as president of this amazing university.”
Throughout his career in the Army, Reeves has maintained close ties with Wyoming, where many of his family members live. He says he looks forward to traveling around the state to hear from the people of Wyoming about the state’s university, which he describes as an indispensable institution for Wyoming’s future.
Reeves��� priorities include “deepening connections with the university and state communities, building the team, establishing an artificial intelligence task force to ensure we lead in the evolving landscape of higher education -- and of course, watching our Pokes dominate in sports this fall.”
Reeves and his wife, Kimberly, have three children. His contract is for four years, with an annual base salary of $500,000.
The trustees’ vote completed a process that began in September, when a 17-member committee was appointed to lead the search for UW’s next president. That committee was composed of UW trustees, faculty, staff and students, along with representatives of the state’s key industries.
The committee worked with a consulting firm to solicit candidates for the presidency, and more than 100 people applied. The committee conducted video interviews of 10 candidates and forwarded a list of five semifinalists to the Board of Trustees last month. After interviewing the semifinalists last week, the board publicly identified Reeves and another finalist and conducted well-attended public forums on campus this week.