LARAMIE, Wyo. — The University of Wyoming women’s basketball team has signed Josie Sharpe through Team IMPACT, head coach Heather Ezell announced.
Sharpe spent the 2022–23 season with the Cowgirls and on Tuesday officially became a member of the team. She was at all the Cowgirl home games and even made the trip to Las Vegas for the Mountain West Tournament.
“Josie was the sunshine that we needed this season on the team; she just brightened all of our days,” Cowgirl Ola Ustowska said.
“It was great to build relationships with her off the court,” teammate Emily Mellema added.
“At first she was really shy, but eventually she became comfortable around us and she’s so fun to be around,” Cowgirl Allyson Fertig said.
Fertig, Mellema and Ustowska were a part of the leadership team with Sharpe, along with Lexi Bull, Paula Salazar, Tommi Olson, Grace Moyers and Tess Barnes.
“This is our biggest recruit of the season,” said Ezell at the press conference.
This is the first season that Wyoming has worked with Team IMPACT as the state of Wyoming became the 50th state to work with the organization.
Team IMPACT is a multi-year program that signs children facing serious illness and disabilities onto college athletic teams across the country. Based on a clinical model, Team IMPACT guides a relationship between the teams and children focused on socialization, empowerment, resilience and ensuring everyone involved has the personalized game plan they need to win, effectively building confidence and independence.
Founded in 2011, Team IMPACT has matched over 2,600 children with 700+ colleges and universities in all 50 states, impacting more than 65,000 student-athletes. If people know a child or team who may be interested, they can visit www.teamimpact.org.
