Darrell Moody: Porter could be Nevada’s front man

Length and rim protecting are two things that Nevada lacked during its Sweet 16 run last season.

Those needs may have been met when the school announced 6-10 Trey Porter had agreed to attend Nevada in the fall. Porter is a grad transfer from Old Dominion, thus he can play immediately.

Unless Cody Martin, Caleb Martin and/or Jordan Caroline, or another player currently on scholarship, leaves to pursue other opportunities, the Pack has reached its limit on scholarships. A fully funded Division I men’s basketball team has 13 scholarships.

Nevada coaches Eric Musselman and Johnny Jones were scheduled to meet with Jordan Brown of Prolific Prep in Napa last week in Sacramento. Brown, a 6-10 215-pound front-line player has several D-1 powers interested. Nevada is said to be one of seven schools he’s considering. UCLA, Cal and St. John’s are also in the mix.

If Brown was to agree to come to Nevada, it would have to not renew somebody’s scholarship. Scholarships are renewable ever year under NCAA rules.

Essentially Porter gets the scholarship Charlie Tooley was given the second half of the season after Nevada kicked grad transfer Darien Williams off the team midway through the season.

This will be Porter’s third Division 1 school. He started his career at George Mason, but left after his freshman season for Old Dominion. Porter averaged 3.5 points, 2.6 rebounds and was second on the team with 33 blocks at George Mason.

After a redshirt season at ODU, he averaged 6.6 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per contest. Porter enjoyed a breakout season in 2017-18, helping ODU to a 25-7 record. He averaged 13.2 points and 6.2 rebounds a contest. He shot 59 percent from the floor.

If everybody stays (the Martin twins and Caroline), Nevada would be pretty strong up front with six guys who can play 3, 4 or 5 — Porter, Caroline and 6-7 redshirt senior Tre’Shawn Thurman not to mention Josh Hall and the Martins.

Nevada fans should keep an eye on Hall. He’s due to have a breakout season after two seasons at Nevada. He has been up and down offensively. Not a big, physical specimen, Hall is a tenacious offensive rebounder.

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After sweeping New Mexico in a conference series, Nevada has fallen on hard times with losses against Air Force (2) and Saint Mary’s. Nevada resumes conference play May 4-6 at home against Fresno State.

Former Douglas High star Kaleb Foster is hitting .326 with a homer and 11 RBI. Conor Allard, a former standout at Reno, is hitting .209 with 10 RBI. Mark Nowaczewski, former Reed star, is 4-3 on the season. Ryan Anderson, formerly of Spanish Springs, is 1-1 with a 6.70 ERA, and ex-Western Nevada star Matt Young is 0-0 with a 6.00 ERA.

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Connor Pradere and Kyle Krebs are both enjoying solid seasons at Feather River and Solano College, respectively.

Pradere is hitting .384 with 16 RBI and 17 stolen bases in 22 attempts. He has been shifted to the outfield. Krebs, who’s also playing the outfield, is batting .297 with a homer and 21 RBI.

Joe Nelson is pitching for Feather River. He’s 0-0 with an 8.22 ERA in seven appearances.

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Bryce Moyle is 0-0 with a 6.91 ERA after 10 appearances at Washington State.

Moyle has thrown 14.1 innings, allowing 11 earned runs. He has struck out 14 and walked seven. Opposing hitters are batting .241 against him.