It’s not probably the most glamorous project ever, however Nevada interim athletic director Invoice Johnson is aware of he has an vital position to play.
Johnson, who’s the college’s vice chairman for development, has led Wolf Pack athletics since Nevada fired Doug Knuth on April 20. It’s a job Johnson anticipates having till no less than July 1, when the college hopes to have accomplished an aggressive search and hiring course of.
Whereas on the job, Johnson is each overseeing the Pack’s spring sports activities efforts — together with Mountain West championship appearances for a number of groups and athletes — together with getting the division able to transition into the 2022-23 athletics calendar. That features getting ready Nevada’s annual NCAA audit, which is due June 30.
“I feel anybody who sits in any appearing or interim position, your job is to proceed to advance the day-to-day enterprise of the operations — on this case, athletics,” Johnson informed the RGJ in an interview at his on-campus workplace. “We now have to shut out the 12 months (with) our annual audit and compliance that we’ve got to show into the NCAA. We now have student-athletes graduating, and we’re attempting to ship them off on a great word. We’ve received to complete out our spring sports activities.
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Change on the prime:Doug Knuth out as Nevada Wolf Pack athletic director
“After which we’re already attempting to resume soccer tickets; we’re already attempting to get the autumn sports activities prepared. So there’s loads of operations that we’ve got to do on a day-to-day foundation … that is my position, simply to maintain the enterprise of athletics shifting ahead, to not launch something new. That’s for a brand new athletic director to do.”
From athletics to administration
Sports activities have been an enormous a part of Johnson’s life for so long as he can bear in mind.
Basketball turned his calling card, and he was adequate to ultimately play for Nebraska in school. That led, in flip, to teaching, the place Johnson was an assistant at quite a lot of faculties, together with again at Nebraska.
The grind and the uncertainty in school teaching, although, led him to start contemplating different choices, Johnson says.
After switching over to the executive aspect, he has labored at faculties equivalent to Pacific and San Francisco. He was most not too long ago vice chairman for development at Cal State-East Bay earlier than being employed for a similar position final August at Nevada.
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“I transitioned out 15 years in the past and wished to make the best impression attainable in my new profession,” Johnson stated. “I even have two folks in athletic improvement who report back to somebody in development — my day job — and I’ve folks in all of the 13 faculties and two models throughout campus. It is a position that I am actually embracing and I wish to make the largest impression attainable to increased training.
“It propelled my household off the reservation (Johnson is a member of the Santee Sioux tribe) and to myself having a fantastic profession. It’s a fantastic honor to be interim or appearing athletic director, however (development) is the place I wish to keep.”
‘It is a nice job’
Now, Johnson is well-placed to assist Nevada transition from Knuth, who was with the college for 9 years. The varsity is conducting a nationwide search with the assistance of Atlanta-based Parker Government Search, hoping to finish its NCAA audit by June 30 and transfer a brand new AD into place July 1.
Learn extra:Doug Knuth’s Nevada Wolf Pack legacy will probably be a sophisticated one. Here is why.
Johnson stated he won’t apply for the full-time place. Quite, he’ll information Pack athletics for an additional few weeks, assist with the search and ensure the brand new AD has a clear slate for his or her first day on the job.
He additionally thinks it received’t be tough to promote Nevada athletics to any of the AD candidates.
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“While you take a look at it, we (the Mountain West) received the Bowl Cup (greatest report in bowl video games), our basketball convention was ranked eighth out of 32 … that is most likely the convention proper exterior the Energy 5,” Johnson stated. “And whenever you take a look at what (Nevada) is doing now with a few of our spring sports activities — tennis and golf is on the NCAAs, baseball continues to be doing effectively and can hopefully be a favourite for Mountain West convention champions … this can be a nice job.”
Shifting to Reno and likewise shifting again into athletics, even briefly, is definitely a little bit of a full-circle expertise for Johnson.
One among his most vivid sports activities reminiscences is serving on the workers of the Nebraska staff that performed an NIT recreation at Nevada on the finish of the 1996-97 season. A raucous environment at Lawlor Occasions Heart — attendance broke the 11,000 barrier — wasn’t sufficient to push the Pack excessive, with Nebraska profitable, 78-68.
“I replicate again to 1997, after I was younger 20-something right here in an 11,000-seat enviornment that had a report crowd on the time, and the atmosphere it created,” Johnson stated. “I bear in mind our coach telling us, ‘that was a big-time atmosphere.’
“It is a group that will get behind athletics and will get behind the college. I feel it is very engaging due to that.”
For extra on the Wolf Pack, school sports activities, and Reno’s baseball and soccer groups, comply with the creator at @RGJduke. Digital subscriptions to the Reno Gazette Journal start at as little as $1 a month; click on right here for particulars.
San Jose State Spartans (7-6) at Nevada Wolf Pack (5-8)
Reno, Nevada; Sunday, 4 p.m. EST
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BOTTOM LINE: San Jose State visits Nevada after Sofia Kelemeni scored 27 points in San Jose State’s 100-44 win against the Bethesda (CA) Flames.
The Wolf Pack have gone 4-3 in home games. Nevada is seventh in the MWC in rebounding with 32.2 rebounds. Lexie Givens paces the Wolf Pack with 6.2 boards.
The Spartans are 1-2 on the road. San Jose State is 1-0 in games decided by less than 4 points.
Nevada’s average of 6.2 made 3-pointers per game this season is just 0.1 fewer made shots on average than the 6.3 per game San Jose State gives up. San Jose State’s 40.7% shooting percentage from the field this season is 2.7 percentage points lower than Nevada has allowed to its opponents (43.4%).
The Wolf Pack and Spartans meet Sunday for the first time in conference play this season.
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TOP PERFORMERS: Dymonique Maxie is averaging 6.6 points and 1.8 steals for the Wolf Pack.
Rylei Waugh is averaging 7.2 points for the Spartans.
LAST 10 GAMES: Wolf Pack: 4-6, averaging 68.5 points, 34.3 rebounds, 12.3 assists, 7.6 steals and 1.7 blocks per game while shooting 38.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 67.5 points per game.
Spartans: 5-5, averaging 64.4 points, 34.1 rebounds, 13.9 assists, 6.8 steals and 2.0 blocks per game while shooting 40.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 64.1 points.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
RENO, Nev. (KOLO) – The report released by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development found that nationally, more than 770,000 people were experiencing homelessness on a single night in January 2024.
Among the most concerning trends was a nearly 40% rise in family homelessness.
Here in Nevada more than 10,000 homeless people were counted, which is an increase from 8,600 last year.
“It’s very terrifying,” says Marie Baxter, CEO of Catholic Charities.
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“On a daily basis we can see upwards of 100 individuals, seniors, families, people who are coming in and most often what they’re asking for is some form of rental assistance,” says Baxter. “They’re facing eviction, their rents have gone up, or they’ve had a change in their circumstances.”
Baxter says that they have seen an increase in homeless grandparents, who are stepping up to take care of their grandchildren:
“A lot of grandparents are raising their grandchildren and they’re on a fixed income to start… They were barely getting by as it was, but now their food bills have gone up because they’re feeding their grandchildren, or their nieces or their nephews,” says Baxter.
HUD reports also look to blame soaring rents, and the end of pandemic assistance and officials also say the Maui fires and other natural disasters contributed to the rise.
However, homelessness among veterans dropped nearly 8% nationwide to an all-time low.
Las Vegas Hells Angels motorcycle club members accused of targeting a rival club in a Henderson highway shooting can be prosecuted as gang members under state law, the Nevada Supreme Court ruled Thursday.
The 2022 Memorial Day shooting on Interstate 11 — which Clark County prosecutors alleged targeted Vagos Motorcycle Club members — injured seven people.
Addressing that case, the higher court ruled that there was enough probable cause to classify the Hells Angels as a criminal gang.
Indicted Hells Angels members included local chapter President Richard Devries.
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District Court Judge Tierra Jones in 2023 dismissed some of the charges the suspects were facing, including racketeering, gang enhancements and 20 of 25 shooting-related counts.
Jones had sided with defense attorneys who had argued that the indictment failed to properly specify which defendants engaged in alleged racketeering activities.
Police told a grand jury that investigators recovered 25 spent bullets on the highway.
Jones noted that prosecutors only presented evidence from a witness who testified that one of the suspects fired five rounds.
Defense attorneys countered that the state failed to consider exculpatory evidence that some of the Vagos members had guns and that one of the indicted suspects, Rayann Mollasgo, had also been shot.
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‘Criminal gang’
“We conclude that this was an error because the State presented at least slight or marginal evidence to support a reasonable inference that Hells Angels members commonly engage in felony-level violence directed at rival motorcycle clubs, such that that group constitutes a criminal gang,” Supreme Court justices wrote in their ruling.
Added the higher court: “Because the District Court substantially erred in dismissing the gang enhancement, we reverse and remand.”
The other Hells Angels members indicted were Stephen Alo, Russell Smith, Aaron Chun, Cameron Treich and Taylor Rodriguez.
After Jones’ ruling, they still were facing 17 charges, including attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder. Roneric Padilla, who also was indicted, was charged with accessory to commit a felony.
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The Vagos group was returning to Las Vegas from Hoover Dam in a ride commemorating the holiday when Hells Angels motorcyclists rode behind the victims, according to prosecutors, who allege the Vagos were ambushed.
The suspects broke up the victims’ group and then shot at individual riders, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors alleged that the shooting might have been in retaliation for a California shooting that killed a Hells Angels motorcyclist, an accusation challenged by Vagos members during a grand jury hearing.
Nsc Hells Angels Decision by Las Vegas Review-Journal on Scribd
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Contact Ricardo Torres-Cortez at rtorres@reviewjournal.com.
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