On weekday mornings, Nevada Sports Net will recap three big headlines of the day in its Morning Download. Read below for today’s topics.
1. SDSU proposes major increase to athletics student fee
San Diego State is proposing a 45 percent increase to its mandatory Instructionally Related Activities fee to help bolster funding for Aztecs athletics, per the San Diego Union Tribune’s Mark Zeigler. The fee would increase from $580 to $840 per year and raise an additional $9.7 million on top of the $16 million already collected. That would grow student-fee contributions to athletics to nearly $26 million on a $90 million overall budget. The Aztecs’ current student-fee total is the highest in the Mountain West, ahead of San Jose State, which gets around $10 million annually in student fees. In the most recent fiscal year, Nevada athletics gained $2,851,248 in student-fee money, although the school last year added a $3.50-per-credit student fee to help fund a $25 million indoor fieldhouse that is expected to raise $76.9 million over the next 31 years.
2. Wolf Pack swimmer Scarlett Ferris breaks two school records
Wolf Pack swimmer Scarlett Ferris broke her second school record in as many days, with one of those also being a conference best. On Wednesday, Ferris broke her school record in the 50-yard freestyle by becoming the first Wolf Pack swimmer to break 22 seconds in that event. She swam a time of 21.91 seconds, besting her previous record of 22.65. On Thursday, Ferris broke her school record in the 100 backstroke with a time of 51.16, which also is the fastest time in MW history. The junior from Fife, Scotland is having a fantastic fall season and is one of the early favorites to win MW swimmer of the year this spring.
3. Nevada basketball alum Jalen Harris joins Jordan National Team
Former Nevada basketball player Jalen Harris has been added to the Jordanian Basketball Federation’s national team. The 27-year-old was recently naturalized in that Middle Eastern country. Harris played for Nevada in 2019-20 and was a second-round draft pick by the Toronto Raptors. In addition to playing in the NBA and G League, Harris has played in China and Canada. The team said in a statement: “The federation hopes that Harris’ joining will form a qualitative addition to our national team and that his experience and technical capabilities will contribute to supporting the journey of ‘The Neshamy Falcons’ during the upcoming commitments, enhancing the ambitions of the team and the Jordanian fans in the journey to achieving the fourth historical and third consecutive qualification to the World Cup finals.”