RENO, Nev. – As the decade comes to a close, the Nevada athletics department is looking back at what was an incredibly memorable 10 years for the Wolf Pack. The 2010s saw remarkable achievement across the board, in competition and in the classroom, with multiple championships along the way. And as the Nevada closes the door on the decade and opens up the 2020s, it does so with a remarkable number in tow: a record-high graduation rate of 85 percent for its student athletes.
Let's take a look back at some of the key moments of the decade:
The 2010s began with the pinnacle of Wolf Pack football as Chris Ault's 2010 Dream Team, led by senior quarterback Colin Kaepernick, toppled No. 3 Boise State in the Blue Friday game at Mackay Stadium. The Pack would roll on to a WAC Championship and a win over Boston College in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl as 30,000-plus Nevada fans took over San Francisco for the bowl game. When the dust settled, Nevada had produced the most wins in school history and the highest ranking in program history with a 13-1 mark and a No. 11 slot in the final AP Top 25.
On July 1, 2012, the University of Nevada officially became a member of the Mountain West Conference, the third league in the school's Division I-A/FBS history. The Wolf Pack baseball team would capture the school's first-ever MW title in 2015, followed in short order by swimming and diving in 2016 and three-straight seasons of men's basketball championships. With another baseball title coming in 2018, Nevada has won seven conference championships in its eighth year now as a MW member.
One of the greatest accomplishments, not just in the decade, but in the history of Wolf Pack athletics, came in March of 2016 when sophomore diver Sharae Zheng made history by capturing a pair of gold medals in the NCAA Championships. She captured the title in the 1-meter and 3-meter springboard events to become Nevada's first national champion since 2002 and the NCAA's Diver of the Year. Her coach,
Jian Li You, was the NCAA Diving Coach of the Year in 2016 as well. Zheng is one of 11 Nevada athletes to ever win a national championship.
In the span of a year between October 2016 and October 2017, the Wolf Pack saw two of its former athletes give transformative gifts back to the University. First came a million-dollar gift from Ramon Sessions towards the development what is now known as the Ramon Sessions Basketball Performance Center, one of the top hoops practice facilities in the West. Then came another seven-figure gift from Don Weir to lead the way for phased renovations at Don Weir Field at Peccole Park.
The decade saw the resurgence of the Wolf Pack men's basketball team, beginning with a CBI championship in 2016, which paved the way for Nevada's current streak of three-straight NCAA Tournament appearances and Mountain West regular season titles. In March of 2018, Nevada reached the height of its basketball success to date with a 22-point comeback against Cincinnati in the second-round of the NCAA Tournament to reach the second ever Sweet 16 in school history.
The final competition of the decade for Nevada will be Dec. 28 as the women's basketball team plays host to Cal Poly at Lawlor Events Center. The 2020s open on Jan. 1 with men's basketball at Lawlor against Colorado State.
