Defending champ UNR again relies on transfers
Wolf Pack can’t sneak up on foes this year
Note: This is the eighth in a series of 10 season previews of Mountain West basketball teams.
UNR has become Transfer Central in the Mountain West, fueling the Wolf Pack’s rise.
The defending champions are relying largely on five more transfers this season to stay atop the conference.
In the backcourt, the Wolf Pack get 6-foot 3-inch senior Hallice Cooke from Iowa State and 6-7 senior Kendall Stephens from Purdue. Up front are 6-8 senior Darien Williams from St. John’s and 6-7 junior twins Caleb and Cody Martin from North Carolina State.
“A transfer to me is like an NBA free agent,” said third-year coach
Eric Musselman, who is 52-21. “You know what you’re getting in an
NBA free agent. You can watch film against other Division I players.”
The Wolf Pack won the Mountain West regular-season and tournament titles last season, but they lost forward Cameron Oliver (16.0 points, 8.7 rebounds), who declared for the NBA draft. Back is 6-7 junior Jordan Caroline, who averaged 15.0 points and 9.2 rebounds.
The conference media picked UNR first, changing the narrative of the Wolf Pack from chasing down the favorites to the ones with the targets.
“The first year, we told our team, ‘That locker room down there doesn’t respect us,’ ” Musselman said. “We caught people off guard. When people don’t respect you, you can win a game here or there just based on somebody not being ready to play. Maybe they’re overlooking you for a big game coming up.
“We know now because we represented the conference in the NCAA Tournament that we’re not going to catch anybody on an off night, so the way that you prepare and the way you get ready for games has to change.”
Contact Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com. Follow @markanderson65 on Twitter.