The Wolf Pack basketball team is doing a good job of staying in the news these days.
Coach Eric Musselman will throw out the ceremonial first pitch at the Aces’ opener on Tuesday, and the Mountain West champs will also be introduced to the crowd.
Musselman is a hot commodity right now, and so is the basketball program.
Just get ready Pack fans, because I’m sure if Nevada has another great season, big-name programs will again inquire about Musselman, who has made basketball fun again.
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Musselman, who never seems to get tired, has to be getting little or no sleep these days.
Besides looking for two new coaches, he’s trying to get a couple of more scholarship players.
The biggest thing holding recruiting up is the Cam Oliver situation. Oliver has yet to hire an agent, but I honestly don’t think he’s a first-round draft pick, and that’s where the guaranteed money comes in for NBA draft picks. If he stays, it’s one less big player Musselman needs to bring in. I look at Oliver as a second-round pick.
Right now, the Pack has a lot of length and athleticism returning.
What will Muss do about Elijah Foster?
I have mixed feelings on the matter even though the domestic battery charge was dropped with cause.
No matter what way Musselman and the university go, there’s going to be pushback. One group will say everybody deserves a second chance. The women’s groups will say no way.
If my math is correct, and if both Oliver and Foster leave, Muss will have five scholarship openings. And, if Oliver and Foster don’t come back, two of the five will have to be big bodies. Right now, the Pack doesn’t have a player over 6-foot-8 on its roster.
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I admit I wasn’t stunned by the fact Devearl Ramsey asked for his release.
Ramsey had a limited role with the team as a freshman, and it was probably going to be even less next year with Hallice Cooke coming off a redshirt year.
Ramsey never really got on track all year. He gave the team a lift in its narrow win against UC Santa Barbara, and he had one other positive game.
Of all the scholarship players on the roster, he played the least.
There just wasn’t a place on next year’s team which is why I’m sure the team didn’t hesitate in granting him the release.
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Two of the walk-ons from last year, David Cunningham and David Kyle, are no longer listed on the roster. John Carlson and Charlie Tooley, both walk-ons, are expected to return.
Tooley is the player who helped ignite Nevada’s big comeback road win over New Mexico with a big 3-pointer.
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New women’s coach Amanda Levens had her first press conference earlier in the week.
Levens served as an assistant coach under Kim Gervasoni, who was Nevada’s head coach before Jane Albright.
Levens was the head coach at Southern Illinois, and then was the associate head coach at Arizona State before accepting the Nevada job.
Levens is young, and it will be interesting to see what kind of talent she can recruit. The cupboard is pretty bare in Northern Nevada, but there are a few players down in Southern Nevada that could play at the D-1 level.