Nevada’s Grant Sherfield shown in a game against Minnesota-Duluth on Dec. 15, 2021 at Lawlor Events Center in Reno. (Photo: Nevada Athletics)
Utah State Aggies fans showed their support for 6-foot-4 sophomore Max Shulga this past Saturday.
Aggies’ fans held up blue and yellow cards in the shape of the Ukraine national flag before and during Utah State’s game against Colorado State in Logan, Utah to support Shulga’s native country.
Shulga is from Kyiv, Ukraine, which has been under attack recently because of a Russian invasion. His parents, Boris and Olga, still live in the city.
Utah State fans also observed a moment of silence for Ukraine before the game and raised the blue and yellow cards the moment Shulga ran out onto the court for the first time with 13:25 to go in the first half. One fan also held up a sign that read, “We stand with Ukraine.”
Shulga and some of his teammates also wore yellow shoelaces on one foot and blue on the other and Shulga draped a Ukraine flag around his shoulders during the pre-game introductions.
Shulga played just eight minutes (all in the first half) in Utah State’s 66-55 loss to Colorado State, scoring two points on a jumper a minute after he entered the game.
Shulga has played in 51 games in two seasons with the Aggies, averaging 10 minutes, 2.9 points, 1.9 rebounds and nearly an assist per game.
He scored 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting in Utah State’s 78-49 victory over Nevada at Lawlor Events Center on Jan. 29 and had two points in the Aggies’ 85-72 loss to Nevada on Feb. 11 in Logan. He had 12 points and 12 rebounds over two games against Nevada last season.
Shulga played for the U18 Ukraine national team in the European Championships in 2019, scoring 22 points against Bosnia and Herzegovina (the home of Wolf Pack player Alem Huseinovic) and 20 against Macedonia.
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USFL PASSES ON PACK: The USFL spring football league, which will begin in April, recently conducted its draft but did not select a former Nevada Wolf Pack player.
The eight USFL teams each selected 35 players in the two-day draft last week, filling the majority of its 38-player rosters. Another draft will be conducted March 10 to fill out the rosters.
The league did, however, draft 18 former Mountain West players. Seven former San Jose State Spartans were selected, including wide receivers Tre Walker and Bailey Gaither, who played on San Jose State’s 2020 conference champions.
All players picked in the draft were already signed to a USFL contract. Players on active rosters will earn $45,000 this season and an $850 bonus for each victory.
The Wolf Pack and the USFL, though, are not strangers. The Pack was well represented during the first version of the USFL in the 1980s. Former Wolf Pack players Charles Mann, Derek Kennard, Tony Zendejas, Anthony Corley, Otto Kelly, Tony Shaw, Dee Monson, Bubba Puha and Alphonso Williams all played in the league. Mann, Kennard and Zendejas went on to have long NFL careers. Williams also played briefly in the NFL. Williams, Kennard and Zendejas were all selected in a NFL supplemental draft of USFL players in 1984.
The entire USFL regular season will be played in Birmingham, Ala., this season, with the playoffs taking place in Canton, Ohio. All eight teams (Birmingham Stallions, New Jersey Generals, Philadelphia Stars, Michigan Panthers, Pittsburgh Maulers, Houston Gamblers, New Orleans Breakers, Tampa Bay Bandits) were also members of the original USFL.
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SHERFIELD AMONG BEST IN COUNTRY: Nevada Wolf Pack point guard Grant Sherfield was ranked No. 4 in the country in assists (6.46 per game) heading into Tuesday night’s game at Boise State.
Sherfield has 155 assists in 24 games (he missed three games with a foot injury). His 6.46 assists per game leads the Mountain West, though he is followed closely by Wyoming’s Hunter Maldonado, who is averaging 6.15 assists a game and is sixth in the nation.
Sherfield also led the Wolf Pack in assists last season with 158 in 26 games (6.08). He is averaging 6.26 assists over his 50-game Nevada career.
The Wolf Pack record for assists in a season is 240 by Billy Allen in 1981-82. Allen’s 8.6 assists per game that season is also the Nevada single-season record. Sherfield’s 6.1 assists last year is the Wolf Pack record for a sophomore.
Just five Pack players (Allen, Eathan O’Bryant, Robin Kennedy, Kevin Soares and Curtis High) have averaged at least six assists for their careers. Soares, who played with the Pack for four seasons (1988-92), is the only one of the five who played longer than two seasons at Nevada.
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BOISE STATE STRUGGLES AT THE LINE: Boise State, which hosts Nevada on Tuesday night, leads the Mountain West with a 14-2 league record. The Broncos, though, are one of the worst free throw shooting teams in the nation.
Boise State is last (11th) in the Mountain West and 343rd out of 350 Division I teams in the nation with a .638 success rate from the line.
The Broncos, though, beat San Diego State 58-57 last Tuesday night with a pair of free throws by Abu Kigab with 1.7 seconds left in the game. Boise made 17-of-26 (.653) from the line in the game.
“The great thing is all of you media people have been saying, ‘Oh, the free throws are going to cost them,’” Boise State coach Leon Rice said. “No they aren’t. We just won with the free throws. Isn’t it ironic?”
Boise State beat UNLV, 86-76, four nights later despite making just 13-of-25 (.520) free throws.
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HAMILTON LEADING LEAGUE: Bryce Hamilton is attempting to become the first UNLV Rebel player to lead the Mountain West in scoring average.
Hamilton currently leads the Mountain West at 21.8 points a game with 632 points over 29 games. The Rebels will close their regular season this week against Wyoming at home on Wednesday and Saturday on the road at New Mexico.
UNLV’s Dalron Johnson (558 points in 32 games in 2001-02) and Wink Adams (591 points over 35 games) did lead the Mountain West in total points scored in a season. But Johnson, who averaged 17.4 points a game in 2001-02, was edged out by New Mexico’s Ruben Douglas (18.1) and Adams, who averaged 16.9 points a game in 2007-08, was beaten by Wyoming’s Brandon Ewing (17.2) for the scoring titles.
Hamilton’s 632 points also leads the Mountain West this season. The Nevada Wolf Pack has had one Mountain West scoring champ (Jalen Harris at 21.6 points a game in 2019-20) since joining the league in 2012-13. UNLV is an original member of the Mountain West and helped form the league in 1999-00.
