Murray's Mailbag: What are Nevada hoops' strengths/weaknesses with roster nearly set?

Longtime readers know I consider the "Adventures of the Gummi Bears" theme song to be the best in television history. I did some digging on the theme song over the weekend and discovered it was sung by Joseph Williams, the lead signer of Toto (most famous for the songs "Africa" and "Rosanna") and the signing voice of adult Simba in The Lion King. He's also the son of John Williams, the famous composer behind the scores of Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Jaws, E.T., Harry Potter Superman, Jurassic Park and Home Alone, among many others. And his mother is Barbara Ruick, an actress, who I discovered this weekend, died in Reno on March 3, 1974 at age 41 while on location playing the role of a friendly poker room bartender in the movie "California Split." Ruick died in her sleep from a cerebral hemorrhage at the Mapes Hotel 51 years ago. RIP, Mrs. Ruick. I'll listen to your son's Adventures of the Gummi Bears theme song several times today in your honor. And let's get to this week's Monday Mailbag. Thanks, as always, for the questions.

Here is Nevada's updated 2025-26 men's basketball roster, which includes 13 scholarship players. The current NCAA rules cap men's basketball teams at 13 scholarship players. The proposed House settlement allows for teams to have up to 15 players on the roster, all of whom can be on scholarship. The House settlement still hasn't passed, with the judge presiding over the case having the biggest issue with the roster changes across all sports. So, we don't know if that scholarship limit will be 13 or 15 players. With that said, Nevada is probably done adding scholarship players. It might add one more, but this is, more or less, the Wolf Pack's roster for next season with the potential for minor changes.

This is another point of confusion for many fans. The House settlement, if approved, would make all sports "equivalency sports" rather than "head-count sports." Basketball is currently a head-count sport, meaning you're either on a 100 percent scholarship or a 0 percent scholarship, thus a walk-on. But most sports are equivalency sports, meaning you can give athletes anywhere from 0 percent to 100 percent scholarship with almost all of those athletes getting a percentage of a scholarship but not a full ride. If the House settlement is approved as written, then you can give up to 15 full-ride scholarships in men's basketball but don't have to. Some players can be pure walk-ons, some can get 25 percent scholarship, some can get 50 percent, etc. They all would be eligible for NIL. The House ruling is not killing the ability to have walk-ons.

As I've previously explained, these new rules are leading Nevada football to recruit more local kids because much of their schooling could be paid for with academic scholarships with the athletic scholarship money filling the gap. Under House, football teams are going from 85 scholarships to 105, which Nevada can't afford to fully fund. But if it adds local kids with academic scholarships, it can use the new equivalency sport rules to get close to 105 scholarship players without paying full freight.

Nevada men's basketball entered the offseason with four players who I'd be comfortable giving 10-plus minutes per game in the Mountain West, those being Nick Davidson, Tyler Rolison, Justin McBride and Yuto Yamanouchi-Williams. Three of those hit the transfer portal, meaning Nevada needed to build an entire rotation of capable MW players. It seems to have accomplished that with the transfer additions of Elijah Price (Fresno State), Vaughn Weems (North Idaho College), Tayshawn Comer (Evansville), Kaleb Lowery (The Master's University), Joel Armotrading (UC Riverside) and Corey Camper Jr. (UTEP). Now, Nevada has seven rotation-level players plus Chuck Bailey III, Jeriah Coleman and Amire Robinson as returning scholarship players and three high school signees in Peyton White, Myles Walker and Ethan Croley. White seems most likely to have an impact as a freshman. The Wolf Pack went from no depth to a decent amount of depth. I have concerns over the star-level talent on the roster. Does Nevada have an All-Mountain West player right now? Price perhaps. Shooting also is a concern. But the Wolf Pack has added athleticism and should play faster next season. Is this a top-three roster in the MW? I don't think so. I have San Diego State, Boise State and Utah State higher, but it should be somewhere in that four-seven range in the league.

The biggest area in need of upgrade is shooting. Here are the career 3-point shooting marks of Nevada's eight players with Division I experience:

Chuck Bailey III — 34.2 percent (27-of-79)

Tyler Rolison — 33.6 percent (38-of-113)

Tayshawn Comer — 32.3 percent (116-of-359)

Corey Camper Jr. — 32.1 percent (61-of-190)

Elijah Price — 10.5 percent (4-of-38)

Amire Robinson — 0 percent (0-of-2)

Joel Armotrading — 0 percent (0-of-1)

Jeriah Coleman — N/A percent (0-of-0)

That's a combined 246-of-782 (31.5 percent) with nobody at 35 percent. Now, Nevada's two lower-level transfers Vaughn Weems (39.6 percent career; 35.7 percent last year) and Kaleb Lowery (37.6 percent career; 35 percent last year) shot solid percentages at their previous schools. But that was at the JuCo (Weems) and NAIA (Lowery) level, so there could be a decline. Bottom line: shooting is my main concern.

As for the team's strength, I like some of the defensive talents added here, including Camper, Price, Armotrading and Comer. The Wolf Pack could have a strong defensive team that attacks the rim and isn't as reliant on 3-point shooting. Comer and Price both got to the free throw line a lot while Weems and Lowery did that at the lower levels, too. If Nevada gets to the free throw line 25 times per game and hits those, the 3-point shooting issue isn't as magnified.

In regard to your last question about whether this roster will compete for a Mountain West title, I still have San Diego State (first), Utah State (second) and Boise State (third) ahead of Nevada, which is in line with UNLV and Colorado State for the fourth, fifth and sixth spots (in any order).

In my player breakdown of Tayshawn Comer, I mentioned what appears to be a pivot at point guard for Nevada, which under Steve Alford has usually had bigger lead guards, including Lindsey Drew (6-4), Jalen Harris (6-5), Grant Sherfield (6-2), Kenan Blackshear (6-6) and Kobe Sanders (6-9) with Daniel Foster (6-5), Darrion Williams (6-6) and Tyler Rolison (6-0) also getting ball-handling duties. That's mostly big guards. But with Rolison (6-0), Comer (6-1) and recent prep addition Myles Walker (5-10) likely manning the ball-handling duties in 2025-26, Nevada is going smaller and faster at point guard to speed up the pace. Weems (6-5) and Camper (6-5) both have playmaking skills, so they could be used as taller lead guards, too.

Justin McBride is the only remaining Nevada player in the portal without a home after Nick Davidson (Clemson) and Yuto Yamanouchi-Williams (Oral Roberts) found new schools. I don't see McBride returning to Nevada, but you can't rule anything out until he signs with a new team.

Wolf Pack all-transfer offense

QB: Brendon Lewis (Memphis)

RB: James Butler (Iowa)

WR: Tory Horton (Colorado State), Elijah Cooks (San Jose State), Mannix McLane (Texas Tech)

TE: Keleki Latu (Washington)

OL: Isaiah World (LT, Oregon), Tyson Ruffins (LG, Cal), Jacob Gardner (C, Colorado State), Grant Starck (RT, Oregon State), Aaron Frost (RT, Arizona State)

Wolf Pack all-transfer defense

DE: Daniel Grzesiak (Cincinnati): Marcel Walker-Burgess (Ohio)

DT: James Hansen (Texas Tech); Dion Washington (Hawaii/Boise State)

LB: Daiyan Henley (Washington State); Drue Watts (Memphis);

CB: Michael Coats Jr. (West Virginia); Chad Brown (Purdue); KK Meier (UTSA)

S: Nephi Sewell (Utah); Richard Toney Jr. (TCU)

Wolf Pack all-transfer special teams

K: Kian Afrookhteh (TBD)

P: Paddy Turner (Colorado State)

LS: Austin Ortega (Tulsa)

KR: Jamaal Bell (Baylor)

PR: Isaiah Essissima (Colorado State)

That team might go undefeated in the Mountain West, although it's based on a six-year sample of rosters.

In the current era, the list is two — Daiyan Henley (third round in 2023) and Tory Horton (fifth round in 2025). Elijah Cooks, Nephi Sewell and Bryson Keeton all played in NFL games as transfers out of Nevada, but none were drafted. If you want to go way back, Robert Awalt (third round in 1987) also fits your request. Historically, the Wolf Pack has had plenty of players transfer in and eventually get drafted or play in the NFL after beginning their careers at other programs, including Marion Motley, Doug Betters, Sherman Howard, Dan Orlich, Horace Gillom, John Dutton, Tommy Kalmanir, etc.

Nevada has lost two of its last three games against FCS competition, so it can't take any win for granted. Sacramento State wasn't any good last season, going 3-9 overall and 1-7 in the Big Sky, so it's a big hole to dig out of. But first-year head coach Brennan Marion put 45 and 38 points on Nevada during his two seasons as UNLV's offensive coordinator and has added Georgia QB Jaden Rashada, Nevada RB Savion Red, Washington RB Sam Adams II and Utah TE Bear Tenney, among others, out of the transfer portal. Plus, it has a recruiting class ranked higher than Nevada, per 247Sports (Sac State is 99; Nevada is 107). It might not be a walk in the park for the Wolf Pack against the Hornets, but Nevada should win that game.

I was asked something similar in a Mailbag question earlier this month and said Sac State's odds for conference affiliation in 2030 are:

* 40 percent in the Mountain West

* 25 percent in the Pac-12

* 15 percent other FBS conference

* 10 percent FBS independent

* 5 percent has returned to FCS

* 5 percent asteroid/other apocalypse has wiped out human race

Here is the list of Mountain West baseball teams with winning league records:

* Fresno State, 15-6

* Nevada, 12-9

* New Mexico 12-9

Your MW winner will come from that group with Nevada hosting Fresno State in a three-game series starting Friday before playing series at San Diego State (10-11 in league) and home against San Jose State (9-12 in league). Fresno State hosts San Jose State and plays a three-game set at New Mexico to end the regular season. New Mexico has three each with San Diego State, Air Force and Fresno State.

Nevada doesn't need to sweep Fresno State to win the MW regular-season title, but that would be a big help. It has to win at least two of three, which would put the Wolf Pack two games back of the Bulldogs with six to play and Fresno State having the harder remaining schedule. Per RPI, New Mexico (114) and Fresno State (118) are the league's two-best teams with Nevada (168) fourth behind UNLV (164). If you give Nevada a 40 percent chance of beating Fresno State in a single game, that would be a 6.4 percent chance of a three-game sweep. At a 50 percent probability of winning one game, that'd be a 12.5 percent chance of a three-game sweep. So 1-in-10 at best. The Bulldogs took two of three over Nevada to open MW play with scores of 15-12, 3-9, 13-0 (seven innings).

Also, my Washoe Little League Triple-A Angels team will be Nevada baseball's "Ballpark Buddies" for Friday's game against Fresno State, so join us for the 6:05 p.m. first pitch. The kids get to go on the field before the game.

Yes. Any team that gets into a six-team conference tournament can win the tournament. Weird things happen. But Nevada needs a top-two seed at the MW Tournament (which comes with a first-round bye) to have a realistic shot of winning the event. The Wolf Pack's ERA of 6.06 ranks fourth out of eight MW schools, so it's middle of the pack and much closer to No. 1 Fresno State (5.40) than last-place New Mexico (8.35). Remember, Nevada pitches at altitude and is coming off a series at Colorado Springs in a stadium that has Division I's highest elevation, so the recent high-scoring series against Air Force can kind of be thrown out. Nevada doesn't have much starting pitching depth, so getting that first-round bye is preeminent. The Wolf Pack's top-four starters have combined for a 5.84 ERA with none of them lower than 4.73 and none of them higher than 6.43. There's no ace here, but the top four can all win games. Finishing above Fresno State or New Mexico would be huge for that first-round bye.

Here's the list of former Nevada basketball head or assistant coaches running programs:

Eric Musselman, USC

Gus Argenal, UC Riverside

Dedrique Taylor, Cal State Fullerton

Dennis Gates, Missouri

Kory Barnett, Oral Roberts

Johnny Jones, Texas Southern

Stacy McIntyre, Air Force

Jacie Hoyt, Oklahoma State

Matt Ochs, Reno High

Armon Johnson, Hug High

Cade Knutson, Fernley High

Chad Savage because he's further along in his coaching career and development path. The Reno High alum has been on a college staff since 2015 and a full-time assistant since 2020. He's got deeper recruiting roots and will spend 2025 at USC, a blue-chip program. It's hard to become an FBS head coach, but Savage is on the right path at just 30 years old. Carson Strong will be on Colorado State's staff this year after serving as Reno High's offensive coordinator last season. He's just starting his career.

You could argue Shedeur Sanders was both benefitted and held back by the fact his father is Deion Sanders. And since I've not covered the situation, I can't tell you which one it is. Certainly his last name being "Sanders" elevated him to get the opportunities he did. But I could see NFL teams not drafting him because they don't want to deal with the Deion circus. Bottom line is Shedeur Sanders was the Big 12 offensive player of the year last season after completing 74 percent of his passes for 4,134 yards with 37 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. That gets drafted no matter who's your father. I do think NFL draft analysts screwed up if no team in the league picked him in the first four rounds but all the analysts had him as a top-40 prospect. His lineage played a role in those misguided prospect reports.

My speculation without reporting on the situation is Mavericks owners Miriam Adelson/Patrick Dumont told Nico Harrison to trade Luka Doncic because they weren't going to give him the supermax and they wanted to try and win now. That's the only explanation for Harrison not being fired.

I'm not an accountant, but my understanding is LLCs have to do with taxes. In announcing Kentucky athletics' move to become an LLC, university president Eli Capilouto said:

"We believe this is an innovative approach — a new structure and governance model that thoughtfully contemplates how we strengthen athletics, protect and promote the university and open up new opportunities for growth. It's a foundation and model that we are calling Champions Blue. Athletics and its success have always been the result of an incredible and productive partnership with campus. It will continue to be in the future — if we seize the opportunities in front of us to meet the challenges that lie ahead."

Steve Alford's 10-year contract with Nevada includes an LLC. Next season, Alford will get $300,000 in base salary, $525,000 for media appearances and $525,000 to the "Steve Alford, LLC" for a total of $1.35 million. So, LLCs in college athletics are not brand new, although an entire department being an LLC seems to be a new thing.

Winning the pennant means winning the American and/or National league, so I think you might mean World Series championship contenders since you listed teams from both leagues. My top-10 contenders are:

10. Arizona Diamondbacks (they'll turn it around)

9. Philadelphia Phillies (they've been "mid" since last year's All-Star break)

8. Texas Rangers (the hitting has been terrible to date)

7. San Diego Padres (doing it with a banged-up lineup)

6. New York Yankees (will Aaron Judge hit in the playoffs?)

5. Chicago Cubs (doing it despite terrible pitching)

4. Detroit Tigers (doing it with a banged-up lineup)

3. New York Mets (doing it with a banged-up starting rotation)

2. Los Angeles Dodgers (will they have four healthy starters in October?)

1. San Francisco Giants (I pointed out in the April 7 Mailbag the Giants are MLB's best team, and I will maintain that even after they fall out of the NL West title race)

Blue cheese looks like mold (and I believe is mold) but tastes delicious. Yellow curry looks like puke but tastes like heaven.

And there are plenty of things I wouldn't try. I'm not adventurous when it comes to eating. My palate is crap, so I can eat cheap basic food and be fine with it.

Better question: Why the hell can't the Los Angeles Kings hold a multiple-goal third-period lead against the Edmonton Oilers?

Here are the scores by period in that series: 1st (King +3); 2nd (Kings +5); 3rd (Oilers +6); OT (Oilers +1). The Kings go from playing hockey in the first two periods to sitting behind their blue line waiting for the Oilers to score for the final 20 minutes. It's infuriating.

May the 4th. Obi-Wan will protect your tomatoes from cold weather.

See y'all next week!

Sports columnist Chris Murray provides insight on Northern Nevada sports. He writes a weekly Monday Mailbag despite it giving him a headache and it taking several hours to write. But people seem to like it, so he does it anyway. Contact him at crmurray@sbgtv.com or follow him on Twitter @ByChrisMurray.