Nevada Wolf Pack men's basketball
The Nevada Wolf Pack men's basketball program is a college basketball team that represents the University of Nevada, Reno. The team is currently a member of the Mountain West Conference, which is a Division I conference in the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The program began in 1913 and has won 23 regular season conference championships and five conference tournament championships. Nevada won a CBI Title in 2016 vs. Morehead State 2-1 in the series.
Background information
- Year founded: 1913
- Location: Reno, Nevada
- School Colors: Navy and Silver
- School Founded: October 12, 1874
- Nickname: Wolf Pack
- Conference: Mountain West Conference
- Arena: Lawlor Events Center
- Head Coach: Steve Alford
Conference affiliations
- No affiliation
- Pacific Coast Athletic Association
- Far Western Conference
- West Coast Athletic Conference
- Big Sky Conference
- Big West Conference
- Western Athletic Conference
- Mountain West Conference
Team history
- All-Time D-1 Record: 954–742 as of June 13, 2019
- NAIA Tournament Appearances: – 1946
- NAIA Tournament Record: 2–1
- NCAA Tournament Record: 6–9
- NCAA Tournament Appearances: – 1984, 1985, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2017, 2018, 2019
- NIT Record: 4–4
- NIT Appearances: – 1979, 1997, 2003, 2010, 2012
- CBI Record: 5–3
- CBI Appearances: – 2008, 2009, 2016
- Highest National Ranking
- *No. 5
- *No. 5
Regular Season Conference Championships (23)
- PCAA: – 1920
- FWC: – 1927, 1928, 1932, 1938, 1956, 1957, 1958,1959, 1961, 1964, 1966
- BSC: – 1984, 1985
- WAC: – 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2012
- MW: - 2017, 2018, 2019
Conference Tournament Championships (5)
- BSC: – 1984, 1985
- WAC: – 2004, 2006
- MWC: – 2017
Venue history
- University Gymnasium – built 1896, capacity unknown; located northwest of the Mackay School of Mines between the current Ansari Building and the Pennington Student Achievement Center
- Virginia Street Gymnasium – built 1945, capacity 3,500; located on Virginia Street opposite College Drive; currently used as a study and training center for Nevada athletes.
- Lawlor Events Center – built 1983, capacity 11,536; located at the corner of North Virginia Street and East 15th Street; current home of Wolf Pack basketball.
Head Coaches
Name | Seasons | Record | Percentage |
C.E. Holway | 1913–1913 | 3–1 | .750 |
Silas Ross | 1914–1919 | 33–21 | .611 |
Raymond Courtright | 1920–1921 | 17–5 | .773 |
Jake Lawlor | 1943–1948 | 70–38 | .648 |
Jim Aiken | 1945 | 8–9 | .471 |
Jackson Spencer | 1970–1972 | 10–64 | .135 |
Jim Padgett | 1973–1976 | 43–61 | .413 |
Jim Carey | 1977–1980 | 65–46 | .586 |
Sonny Allen | 1981–1987 | 114–89 | .562 |
Len Stevens | 1988–1993 | 91–79 | .535 |
Pat Foster | 1994–1999 | 90–81 | .526 |
Trent Johnson | 2000–2004 | 79–74 | .516 |
Mark Fox | 2005–2009 | 123–43 | .741 |
David Carter | 2010–2015 | 98–97 | .503 |
Eric Musselman | 2016–2019 | 100–30 | .769 |
Steve Alford | 2019– | 0–0 | .000 |
Postseason results
NCAA Division I tournament results
The Wolf Pack have appeared in the NCAA Division I tournament nine times, with a combined record of 6–9.1984 | 11 W | First Round | #15 Washington | L 54–64 |
1985 | 14 W | First Round | #16 NC State | L 56–65 |
2004 | 10 M | First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen | Michigan State #3 Gonzaga #14 Georgia Tech | W 72–66 W 91–72 L 67–72 |
2005 | 9 M | First Round Second Round | Texas #1 Illinois | W 61–57 L 59–71 |
2006 | 5 M | First Round | Montana | L 79–87 |
2007 | 7 S | First Round Second Round | Creighton #5 Memphis | W 77–71OT L 62–78 |
2017 | 12 M | First Round | #16 Iowa State | L 73–84 |
2018 | 7 S | First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen | Texas #6 Cincinnati Loyola–Chicago | W 87–83OT W 75–73 L 68–69 |
2019 | 7 W | First Round | Florida | L 61–70 |
NCAA Division II Tournament results
The Wolf Pack have appeared in the NCAA Division II tournament four times. Their combined record is 1–6.1957 | Regional Semifinals | Cal State Los Angeles | L 69–75 |
1961 | Regional Semifinals Regional 3rd Place Game | UC Santa Barbara Chapman | L 57–78 L 63–68 |
1964 | Regional Semifinals Regional 3rd Place Game | Cal Poly Pomona Seattle Pacific | L 71–99 L 74–76 |
1966 | Regional Semifinals Regional 3rd Place Game | Fresno State San Diego | L 78–127 W 74–71 |
NAIA Division I Tournament results
The Wolf Pack have appeared in the NAIA Division I Tournament one time. Their combined record is 2–1.1946 | First Round Second Round Quarterfinals | Morningside West Texas State Southern Illinois | W 56–40 W 60–46 L 58–66 |
NIT results
The Wolf Pack have appeared in the National Invitation Tournament five times. Their combined record is 5–5.1979 | First Round Second Round | Oregon State Texas A&M | W 62–61 L 64–67 |
1997 | First Round Second Round | Fresno State Nebraska | W 97–86 L 68–78 |
2003 | First Round | Texas Tech | L 54–66 |
2010 | First Round Second Round | Wichita State Rhode Island | W 74–70 L 83–85 |
2012 | First Round Second Round Quarterfinals | Oral Roberts Bucknell Stanford | W 68–59 W 75–67 L 56–84 |
CBI results
The Wolf Pack have appeared in the College Basketball Invitational three times. Their combined record is 5–3. They were CBI champions in 2016.2008 | First Round | Houston | L 79–80 |
2009 | First Round | UTEP | L 77–79 |
2016 | First Round Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals–Game 1 Finals–Game 2 Finals–Game 3 | Montana Eastern Washington Vermont Morehead State Morehead State Morehead State | W 79–75 W 85–70 W 86–72 L 83–86 W 77–68 W 85–82OT |
Player honors
Retired numbers
The Wolf Pack have two number officially retired, Edgar Jones’ number 32, and Nick Fazekas’s number 22.Conference player of the year
- Kevin Soares, 1992
- Kirk Snyder, 2004
- Nick Fazekas, 2005, 2006, 2007
- Luke Babbitt, 2010
- Deonte Burton, 2012
- Caleb Martin, 2018
NBA players
- Luke Babbitt
- Johnny High
- JaVale McGee
- Nick Fazekas
- Edgar Jones
- Armon Johnson
- Caleb Martin
- Cody Martin
- Ramon Sessions
- Kirk Snyder
- David Wood