Butte native Shawn Neary embracing opportunity to coach Wyoming boys hoops all-stars

Wyoming, coached by Neary, defeated Montana 83-62 in the first contest of the two-game set last year at the Pronghorn Center on the Gillette College campus.

Neary, also the longtime men’s basketball coach at Gillette College, then coached the Wyoming boys to another victory over the Treasure State, 94-85 at Lockwood High School, for its first sweep since 2011.

Now, Neary — a 1986 Butte High graduate and the men’s basketball head coach at Miles Community College for 13 seasons — is back in charge of the Wyoming boys and looking forward to coaching in the series on Friday night at the Pronghorn Center in Gillette and Saturday in Lockwood. The girls basketball games are scheduled for 5 p.m., and the boys will tip-off at approximately 7 p.m. each night.

Neary said ending the long losing skid against Montana and starting a streak of their own last year was an enjoyable experience for the Wyoming boys.

“I think Montana had been on a 14-year win streak (actually 12, with the 2020 series also canceled due to the pandemic) or something like that and then we ended up sweeping them,” said Neary. “Obviously, Montana is talented. I mean, at the end of the day they have twice as many people as we do (laughs). It’s tough. For us to get the sweep last year and to sort of break that streak, it was good.

“Now this year, Montana is talented again. I know that all 10 of they players, I think have signed to play. Nine of them have signed to play college basketball and one is playing college football at Montana State (Grant Vigen). They’ve assembled a strong group again, no question. So, we’re going to have our work cut out for us. But, hopefully we can compete.”

In Wyoming, the players reported for a week of practice, team building and enjoying the all-star experience on Tuesday.

“We’ve got three kids off the 4A state championship team (Campbell County from Gillette). And those guys had a really good season here in Wyoming to win it,” said Neary. “That’s a good, strong start for us. And then we have the Gatorade Player of the Year in Wyoming (Neil Summers). He signed to play at the University of Wyoming, from Laramie, so he’s on our team. And then another player from Laramie (Jaden Smith) has signed to play with us here at Gillette College. And so, it’s been good to have him in practice as well. We’ve got a good team.”

Neary, in his 13th season as head men’s basketball coach at Gillette over two stints, has 536 career junior college wins in his career. Gillette College had cut its athletic programs in June 2020, but brought its basketball teams back for the 2023-24 school year. He started the Gillette men’s program in 2009 and was with the team until the program was discontinued. When the school brought basketball back, he was rehired to coach the Pronghorns, who he led to a third-place finish at the national tournament in 2016. He has also captured two Region IX championships and led the Pronghorns to three NJCAA national tournament appearances, per his bio on the team’s website. This year, Gillette finished 29-4, losing its final game in the Region IX Finals.

In between his two stints at Gillette, the 1991 then-Eastern Montana College (now MSU Billings) graduate was an assistant men’s coach at MSUB under Mick Durham for the 2020-21 COVID-19 season. The following season, Neary left for the head coaching position at Williston (North Dakota) State, where he coached for the 2021-22 season.

This is the third year that Gillette College will serve as the Wyoming host for the annual summer all-star basketball series with Montana and Neary said the school and community really have embraced the experience and opportunity.

“We get a ton of support from our community,” Neary said. “Our Gillette College booster club helps us run the event and it’s just been fantastic. The community embraces it. We get great support. We’re really fortunate to have it now. “

When he was coaching at Miles Community College, Neary also coached in the Montana-Wyoming series as an assistant coach to then-Montana boys all-star coach Bill Dreikosen.

This year is also special for Neary because his daughter, Kaylie Neary of Campbell County High School in Gillette, is on the girls roster. The Wyoming girls team is coached by Liz Lewis, the head women’s basketball coach at Gillette College. Kaylie Neary, a guard, has signed to play women’s basketball at Montana State Billings.

“It’s been nice. It’s an honor to be selected in either state to represent the state with only 10 players from each state,” Shawn Neary said. “So, it’s cool and it’s been nice and just being able to pop into practice and watch them practice a little bit and she can watch us practice or whatever. I’m glad that she’s getting the opportunity to be a part of it.”