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. Nevada basketball lands non-league games with Idaho, Sam Houston
Nevada men’s basketball has added non-conference home games against Idaho and Sam Houston State, per college basketball writer Alex Rosinski. The Wolf Pack used to be conference-mates with Idaho when both were in the WAC until 2012. They’ve played just one game since then, an 88-64 home win by Nevada in 2017. The Wolf Pack has played Sam Houston State twice, with home wins in 2022 and 2024. Idaho went 18-15 last season and finished 152nd in the NET rankings while Sam Houston was 19-12 and 109th in NET. The game against Idaho will be played Nov. 18 and is part of the Acrisure Series contract. The game with Sam Houston will be played Dec. 12. Nevada also has scheduled home games with Utah Valley (Nov. 14) and Pacific (Dec. 2); have a neutral-site game with Saint Mary’s (Nov. 8) in South Tahoe; and will play two games each in the Acrisure Series in Palm Desert, Calif., and the Dallas Tournament in Frisco, Texas. The Wolf Pack can play up to 14 non-league games.
2. John Savage against MLB proposal that’d ban prep players from draft
MLB’s proposed changes to its draft would push more players to college baseball, although the leader of the No. 1 team in the country this year, John Savage, is not in favor of the change. Savage, a Reno High graduate and longtime UCLA head coach, was among the many against MLB’s proposal to ban high school players from the draft. “What has happened to the ‘American Dream’ for America’s pastime,” Savage told Baseball America. “If a player is good enough to sign after high school, he should have that opportunity.” The current system allows high school players to be draft eligible after their senior season. The new proposal would not allow players to be draft eligible until after their sophomore season of college. The proposal would cut the number of rounds from 20 to eight and slash amateur signing bonuses. The end goal could be to shift player development from minor-league teams to colleges, with MLB reducing the number of affiliated minor-league franchises from 160 to 120 ahead of the 2021 season.
3. Las Vegas athletes sweep soccer Gatorade player of the year awards
The Nevada Gatorade player of the year awards in soccer were awarded this week with both going to Southern Nevada players. On the boys side, Coronado’s Gavin Flickinger won the award after scoring 67 goals and 25 assists. On the girls side, Faith Lutheran’s Olivia Stark was honored after tallying 22 goals and 16 assists. The lone Gatorade player of the year athletes still to be honored are in boys and girls track and field. Northern Nevada athletes have won two of the nine player of the year awards handed out this season, those being Bishop Manogue’s Keenan Dolan (baseball) and Galena’s Gioia Coudriet (girls cross country).