Kansas' Christian Braun celebrates after a turnover against Stephen F. Austin on Dec. 18, 2021, in Lawrence, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
The Nevada Wolf Pack is heading back to Kansas.
The Wolf Pack announced Monday it will take on the Kansas Jayhawks at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence on Wednesday night.
The game was finalized roughly 48 hours before tip-off (5 p.m. on Wednesday) because the Wolf Pack and Jayhawks each had games canceled or postponed this weekend because of health and safety protocols within their opponents’ programs.
The Wolf Pack was scheduled to open its Mountain West season at San Jose State on Wednesday and Kansas was to play Harvard the same night. Kansas has also had games against Colorado canceled on Dec. 21 and postponed against TCU on Jan. 1 because of health and safety protocols (at Colorado and TCU).
The Wolf Pack has played just two games thus far in December. In addition to the San Jose State game getting postponed, the Pack’s games against Grand Canyon (Dec. 21), Texas-Arlington (Dec. 7) and North Texas (Dec. 4) were canceled.
The biggest hurdle to scheduling the Kansas-Nevada game, according to Kansas coach Bill Self, was getting the Wolf Pack to Lawrence in time.
“The biggest challenge regarding the Nevada game was getting them here on short notice with all the pilots and crews and situations with people (airline workers) under protocol,” Self told the Kansas City Star. “It was hard to find a crew to do it. But they (Nevada) are ready to go.”
Kansas, 9-1, is ranked sixth in both the Associated Press and Coaches’ Poll. The Jayhawks’ only loss was to Dayton, 74-73, on Nov. 26. Kansas, which opened its season Nov. 6 with an 87-74 win over Michigan State, has also recently beaten St. John’s, 95-75, and Missouri, 102-65.
The Jayhawks are led by 6-5 senior Ochai Ogbaji (22 points, 4.2 rebounds a game), 6-6 junior Christian Braun (16.8 points, 6.7 rebounds), 6-foot senior Remy Martin (10.9 points) and 6-10 senior David McCormack (8.5 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.5 blocks).
The Wolf Pack has won five games in a row and has not lost since Nov. 22, falling to 1-4 on the year with a 102-75 loss to South Dakota State in Sioux Falls, S.D.
The game in Kansas is sort of a homecoming for Wolf Pack point guard Grant Sherfield.
Sherfield, who leads the Wolf Pack with 20 points and 6.5 assists a game, played the 2019-20 season at Wichita State, averaging 8.1 points ad 2,9 assists a game. He also played in high school at Sunrise Christian Academy in Bel Aire, Kansas.
Kansas holds a 4-2 edge in its series with Nevada. The two programs played in three consecutive seasons from 2003-04 to 2005-06 with the Wolf Pack winning twice.
The Pack beat Kansas in 2003-04 in Reno, 75-61, in front of crowd of 10,983 at Lawlor Events Center as Kirk Snyder scored 29 points. Kansas then beat the Pack, 85-52, in Lawrence in 2004-05 as Nick Fazekas scored 17 points for Nevada. The Pack then won in Lawrence, 72-70, in 2005-06, as Fazekas scored 35 and Mo Charlo hit five free throws in the final 94 seconds.
The two games in Lawrence between the Pack and Jayhawks each attracted crowds of over 16,000 fans.
WOLF PACK SIGNS SAN DIEGO STATE TRANSFER: The Wolf Pack football team recently announced the signing of transfer offensive lineman Joey Capra.
Capra, a 6-foot-4, 300-pound center/guard, has been with the San Diego State Aztecs the last three seasons. He redshirted in 2019, played in just one game in 2020 and seven this past season and has three seasons of eligibility left (the 2020 season does not count against a players’ eligibility because of COVID-19).
Capra helps fill the void left by the Nevada transfers this month of offensive lineman Jacob Gardner and Gray Davis to Colorado State.
Capra, who has graduated from San Diego State, was born in Reno but played high school football at Placer (Calif.) High School. He originally committed to both Arizona State and Oregon out of Placer High before deciding to attend San Diego State with his brother and Aztecs’ teammate Jacob Capra.
PETERSON JABS AT FORMER STAFF: Wolf Pack defensive lineman Dom Peterson went on Twitter on Monday to express his gratitude to interim head coach Vai Taua and also take a jab at the former Wolf Pack coaches who recently left the program.
“Coach Vai is the only coach I met that preaches loyalty and stays true to it,” Peterson wrote. “Salute that man.”
The Wolf Pack lost to Western Michigan, 52-24, on Monday in the Quick Lane Bowl in Detroit with Taua as interim head coach. Long-time Wolf Pack assistant coach Ken Wilson, a current Oregon assistant, was recently named the Pack head coach.
Former Nevada head coach Jay Norvell left the program earlier in the month for Colorado State, taking with him almost all of the Pack’s offensive coaches except running backs coach Vai Taua.
Norvell has also signed nine former Wolf Pack players for Colorado State as transfers. One of the players that didn’t transfer was Peterson. Running back Toa Taua, Vai’s brother, also has not transferred.
“Why would I go somewhere that didn’t want me back then?” Peterson wrote earlier this month, expressing his loyalty to the Wolf Pack.
NORVELL TAKES PRIDE IN SIGNING FORMER PACK PLAYERS: Among the former Pack players now on Colorado State’s roster are wide receivers Tory Horton, Melquan Stovall, offensive lineman Jacob Gardner, Gray Davis and Trevyn Heil and running back Avery Morrow.
Norvell also convinced a half dozen recruits who originally committed to Nevada to change their minds and head to Colorado State.
Norvell said recently that grabbing former Wolf Pack players and recruits is a sign that he is “doing something right.”
“I was really humbled by all the Nevada kids that wanted to be here,” Norvell said earlier this month. “It means were doing something right. It means we take care of them, they enjoy playing for us and they trust us. In this day and age you have to be able to keep your kids. With the transfer portal kids now have a choice. If they don’t like you they can leave you.”
MILLEN WAS CHOICE TO SUCCEED STRONG: Norvell said earlier this month that Clay Millen, and not backup Nate Cox, would have been the choice to replace Carson Strong next season as the Wolf Pack’s starting quarterback.
“He was going to be our next man up after Carson Strong,” Norvell said.
Cox was the Pack’s “next man up” this season, serving as the No. 2 quarterback behind Strong and completing 26-of-43 passes for 279 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. When Strong opted out of the Quick Lane Bowl to concentrate on his preparation for the NFL draft next spring, Cox stepped in against Western Michigan and completed 12-of-23 passes for 121 yards with an interception and a touchdown. He also rushed 13 times (and was sacked six times) for eight yards.
Cox has one year of eligibility remaining and is in the running to become the Pack starter next season after Millen (and Norvell) left the program for Colorado State.
Millen, a 6-foot-3, 190-pound quarterback, spent this past season as a redshirt freshman at Nevada. He did, however, play in one game (against New Mexico State) and throw two passes (completing one for two yards to Wesley Kommer) but still has four years of eligibility remaining. Millen, though, transferred to Norvell’s Rams last month. His father, Hugh Millen, was a backup quarterback in the NFL from 1987-95 and played his final two seasons with the Denver Broncos.
NORVELL QUICKLY CHANGING RAMS: It didn’t take Norvell long to put his stamp on the Colorado State Rams roster. The former Pack coach announced just a week after taking the Colorado State job that the roster will have many new faces in 2022.
“There’s going to be a lot of significant changes on this roster,” Norvell said. “I’m not going to say it will be a complete overhaul but it will be significant.”
Many of the changes will be on offense as Norvell tries to implement his Air Raid offense in Fort Collins, Colo.
“The first thing I did after getting the job was sitting down and watching every game (including the Pack’s 52-10 win at Colorado state) and evaluating the roster. Some of the positions (on the 2021 Rams roster) don’t reflect what we do at all offensively moving forward.
“We have so many needs here on this roster to make it fit what we need to win with. You know it’s not my job here to make everybody happy. Every decision we make is for what’s best for our football team.”
