University of Nevada Athletics Overview
• Nevada Athletics captured the Silver State Series presented by IBEW Local 401 and Nevada Donor Network against in-state rival UNLV for the second time in 2020-21, edging the Rebels by a 24-21 final score. It marked the first time since 2016-17 that the Wolf Pack had won the annual rivalry series.
• Nevada Football won eight games in the 2021 football season and advanced to the Quick Lane Bowl. Sophomore quarterback Carson Strong was named the Mountain West’s Offensive Player of the Year in 2021. Nevada hired Ken Wilson as it's 27th Head Coach in school history.
• Two members of the football team were selected in the 2022 NFL Draft. Wide receiver Romeo Doubs was taken in the fourth round, with the 132nd overall pick, by the Green Bay Packers, and tight end Cole Turner heard his name called in the fifth round, with the 149th overall pick, by the Washington Commanders.
• Nevada Men's Tennis captured the first Mountain West titles in program history in 2022, sweeping the regular season and tournament crowns. The Wolf Pack reached its first NCAA Tournament, where, as of May 2, its first-round opponent and destination are TBD. The conference title is the fourth in program history, and first since 1982.
• Nevada Women's Golf had two golfers earn individual berths into an NCAA Regional for the first time, in 2022. Victoria Gailey and Leah John qualified for the Stanford Regional, which will be played May 9-11. Their individual selections are the first for a Wolf Pack women's golfer since 2001.
• Nevada Men's Golf finished third at the 2022 Mountain West Championships, and, with a No. 34 national ranking, is expected to earn an at-large bid to NCAA Regionals for the second-straight season. The 2022 NCAA Men's Golf Selection Show is scheduled for Wednesday, May 4.
• Freshman Tierney Wolfgram became the second Nevada female cross-country student-athlete to qualify for the NCAA Championships, and first to compete at the event, in over 40 years when she was named part of the national field for the Nov. 20, 2021 event in Tallahassee, Fla.
• Nevada Women’s Basketball finished the 2021-22 campaign 20-13 (11-6 MW), its first 20-win season since 2010-11. The Pack also made its second postseason appearance under head coach Amanda Levens, reaching the Third-Place Game of the Women's Basketball Invitational, in Lexington, Ky.
• Men’s Basketball had two players (guards Grant Sherfield and Desmond Cambridge) named to the All-Mountain West Third Team, and reached the quarterfinals of the 2022 Mountain West Tournament.
• Nicola Ader earned her sixth NCAA All-America honor in track and field with a 16th-place finish in the pentathlon at the 2021 NCAA Indoor Championships.
• The University of Nevada again won the Mountain West Community Service Challenge, in 2021-22. Nevada has won the conference’s top community service award in five of the last eight years.
• Baseball's Dillan Shrum and Softball's Sadaria McAlister were honored as the Wolf Pack's outstanding senior student-athletes, winning the Doc Martie and Ruth Russell Awards, respectively, for 2020-21. Shrum and Softball's Julia Jensen earned the department's 2020-21 Scholar Athlete of the Year honors.
• Now in its sixth year, the Jayme King Inspiration Award is presented annually to a Nevada student-athlete or athletes who exhibits courage in overcoming adversity, whether it be in athletics, academics or life. BerDale Robins of the Wolf Pack football team was named as the 2019-20 recipient for, among other accomplishments, his work in providing meals for homeless in his neighborhood in Los Angeles.
• Track and Field student-athlete Nicola Ader and the Nevada Sports Medicine staff earned the department's 2020-21 Give Back Like Jack awards for their community service endeavors throughout the year. The department presents the awards annually to those who best exemplify the dedication to community service that was the hallmark of longtime Reno/Sparks philanthropist Jack Reviglio's life.
• Football's Tyson Williams and Soccer's Amane Orito won the department's 2020-21 Dr. Chris Exline Award for academic perseverance and achievement.
• Nevada student-athletes matched its highest Graduation Success Rate in the history of the NCAA’s program with a record 89 percent in fall of 2021.
• The 2020-21 academic year saw Nevada graduate 78 of its student-athletes as members of the Wolf Pack continue to achieve in the classroom. Over the past 13 years, more than 1,200 student-athletes have earned at least one degree from the University.
• A record 292 student-athletes earned academic all-conference distinction from the Mountain West during the 2020-21 season. To qualify, a student-athlete must have a cumulative grade-point average, at the member institution, of 3.0 or higher, completed at least one academic semester at the member institution and competed in 50 percent of the team's varsity contests.
• Nevada student-athletes earned a record 153 Mountain West Scholar-Athlete awards in 2020-21. To be eligible for selection, student-athletes must have completed at least two academic terms at the member institution, while maintaining a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or better, and have participated in varsity competition in a Mountain West sponsored sport.
• Nevada continues to perform well in the NCAA's annual Academic Progress Rate report as the department recorded six perfect scores in the single-year data and its 14 sport programs averaged a score of 979 in the multiyear rate in the annual report announced last year. All Nevada sports cleared the multiyear benchmark set by the NCAA. Seven of Nevada's athletics programs – women's basketball, men's and women's tennis, soccer, softball, swimming and diving and track and field – either matched or improved upon their multiyear scores from last year's report. Eleven Wolf Pack programs – football, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's golf, men's and women's tennis, baseball, soccer, swimming and diving and track and field – matched or improved upon their single-year scores from a year ago.
• Dr. Mark Stovak, a team physician for the Nevada athletics department, and a professor at the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine, was selected as part of the NCAA's COVID-19 Medical Advisory Group. This group of infectious disease, public health and medical experts includes some members from the original advisory panel, plus representatives from organizations and medical groups that have been working collaboratively with the advisory panel and NCAA schools. The Medical Advisory Group will tap further into the expertise on university campuses across the country and ensure close communication.
• In the fall of 2020, the NCAA awarded two future championships to Nevada and the Reno-Sparks community. Nevada will play host to a 2025 NCAA Men's Golf Regional at Montreux Country Club, and the 2025 NCAA Women's Bowling Championship Finals at the National Bowling Stadium in downtown Reno.
• The Nevada athletics department announced in the fall of 2020 that it has partnered with online counseling service, Talkspace, to provide mental health resources to all of the Wolf Pack student-athletes. Talkspace is a secure and confidential online mental health care service that provides student-athletes same-day access to thousands of licensed clinicians. After signing up for the service and being matched with a dedicated counselor, Nevada student-athletes can send text, audio and video messages at any time and any place that is convenient to them without the hassles of scheduling in-person appointments.
(Updated May 1, 2022)
