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The biggest NCAA Tournament snubs in Nevada Wolf Pack basketball history

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The biggest NCAA Tournament snubs in Nevada Wolf Pack basketball history


Despite its quarterfinal loss to Colorado State in the Mountain West Tournament, literally no one is expecting the Nevada men’s basketball team to miss out on this year’s NCAA Tournament.

The Wolf Pack broke into the rankings in the AP Top 25 and USA TODAY Sports Coaches’ Poll earlier this week, landing at Nos. 23 and 22, respectively. And despite the Thursday night loss, Nevada was in every single one of the 106 predictions tracked by bracketmatrix.com; the consensus was that Nevada would land as a 7-seed when tournament selections are announced on Sunday.

Still, only conference tournament champions get automatic invitations to March Madness, so the 26-win Wolf Pack will have to await their fate. And strange things can happen when Selection Sunday rolls around, especially for teams outside the traditional basketball powerhouse conferences:

  • 2004: Utah State was ranked No. 22 in the nation in the final poll with a 25-4 overall record, but was denied a spot in the 65-team field that year.
  • 2012: Drexel wrapped up the season winning 19 out of 20 to finish with a record of 29-7, but didn’t get one of the 68 invitations that year.
  • 2015: Colorado State had a 27-6 record going into Selection Sunday, but was shut out of the 68-team bracket.
  • 2018: Saint Mary’s was 28-5, with one of their wins on the road against 13th-ranked Gonzaga, and ranked 20th in the nation, but didn’t get the call to join the 68-team tournament.

While we wait to find out where the Pack will play its postseason games, let’s take a look at some of the biggest snubs in Nevada basketball history.

2011-12: Under third-year head coach David Carter and starring Deonte Burton, Malik Story and Olek Czyz, Nevada had compiled a 26-6 record and a regular-season title in the Western Athletic Conference. But after losing in the WAC conference tournament, they had to settle for a No. 5 seed in the National Invitational Tournament instead of going to the Big Dance. They wrapped up their season with a quarterfinal loss to eventual NIT champion Stanford.

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1996-97: If the Wolf Pack ever had an argument to get an at-large bid prior to the 2000s, it was this team under head coach Pat Foster, with Nevada Hall-of-Famer Faron Hand leading the squad to a 20-9 record and a first-place regular-season finish in the Big West’s eastern division. But a 20-win season against a lightly regarded Big West schedule didn’t impress the selection committee. The team ended its season with a second-round loss to Nebraska in the NIT.

1978-79: The Pack had a high-powered offense — 24th in the nation in points per game with 82.9 — and a home win against 14th-ranked Georgetown, but its 20-6 record in the West Coast Athletic Conference wasn’t enough to catch the attention of the selection committee.

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1945-46: True, there was little chance that Nevada would head to the eight-team NCAA tournament in 1946. Under head coach Jake Lawlor, they had compiled a 26-4 regular season record — but their competition included several non-collegiate opponents, including the amateur Olympic Club of San Francisco, and military teams including the Fallon Navy and the Treasure Island Armed Guard. The team did get an invitation to the NAIA basketball tournament that year in Kansas City, where they had four starters foul out in a quarterfinal loss to Southern Illinois. Their .848 win percentage (28-5 overall) is still the third-best in school history.

Numerous Nevada women’s basketball seasons: A total of 296 women’s basketball teams have competed in the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament, but the Wolf Pack is still on the outside looking in. Despite impressive squads like the 22-11 team in 2010-11 (which picked up regular-season wins against tournament participants Louisiana Tech and NC State) and the 1985-86 team that finished with a school-best .680 win percentage, no Wolf Pack women’s team has gone on to the NCAA Tournament.



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Nevada

28-year-old inmate at Southern Nevada prison dies

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28-year-old inmate at Southern Nevada prison dies


A man serving time at the Southern Desert Correctional Center for felony reckless driving died last month, the Nevada Department of Corrections said Tuesday.

Shiloh Walker, 28, died at the Indian Springs facility on Nov. 24, a news release said. Cause of death was not listed.

Walker was serving a sentence of up to six years after a plea agreement was reached in 2022 following a DUI crash that happened May 31, 2021 in Las Vegas, according to online court records.

An autopsy was requested following Walker’s death, though results were not available as of Monday evening. Attempts to reach Walker’s family members have been unsuccessful, according to the department.

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Contact Bryan Horwath at bhorwath@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BryanHorwath on X.



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Is USPS breaking vow not to use Sacramento for Northern Nevada mail?

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Is USPS breaking vow not to use Sacramento for Northern Nevada mail?


After widespread condemnation last year, the U.S. Postal Service backed away from plans to move its Reno mail-processing operations to Sacramento — but did it stay true to what it told the public?

The question arose recently after letters sent from one Carson City address to another in Carson City were both postmarked in Sacramento.

Northern Nevadans did not want first class mail sent from one Northern Nevada address to another going first to California. They sent a unified message to the USPS all the way up to the postmaster general.

Critics of the USPS plan were especially worried about delays from mail having to go back and forth over the Sierra during winter.

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The Washoe County District Attorney’s office filed a lawsuit over the plan, the Washoe County Commission voted to oppose the plan, public comment was universally opposed, and Democratic and Republican elected officials from across the state joined to stop it.

Could it possibly have happened anyway? The answer is yes, temporarily, for a brief time.

How letters sent in Carson City came to be processed at Sacramento USPS facility

A reader told the Reno Gazette Journal they’d twice had letters internal to Carson City postmarked in Sacramento, so we asked USPS if the policy had changed.

“Mail processing for First Class mail that originates in Northern Nevada and is destined to Northern Nevada has not changed,” USPS spokesperson Sherry Patterson responded by email.

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“However,” she added, “without the specific mail piece and class of mail, we cannot determined if there is an issue.”

The reader then supplied a photo of the two envelopes postmarked Nov. 5 in Sacramento, and this was shared with USPS.

“Our processing machine in Reno was temporarily out of service while we awaited a replacement part,” Patterson said after viewing the postmarks to nail down the specific date the letters went through Sacramento.

“To ensure that mail was not delayed during this time, we implemented a contingency plan that involved routing certain mail to our Sacramento facility for cancellation and processing. This measure allows us to maintain service continuity and minimize disruptions for our customers. We understand that this may cause some confusion, and we are committed to ensuring that all mail is processed efficiently and accurately.”

Bottom line: Regarding first class mail that’s being sent to and from Northern Nevada addresses, it’s still USPS policy to process that in Reno at its Vassar Street facility, she said.

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The path these particular letters took, Patterson added, “is indeed an unusual occurrence.”

Mark Robison is the state politics reporter for the Reno Gazette Journal, with occasional forays into other topics. Email comments to mrobison@rgj.com or comment on Mark’s Greater Reno Facebook page.



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Holiday loneliness affects thousands in Nevada as many face Christmas away from loved ones

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Holiday loneliness affects thousands in Nevada as many face Christmas away from loved ones


LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Loneliness has become a significant health issue for people everywhere, and the holiday season sometimes intensifies those feelings. For many, December looks like family gatherings, matching pajamas and bustling homes. But this time of year can also be very difficult for those who may be battling distance, work commitments or recent life changes.

Marc Valli, an Army veteran who served in Vietnam, has lived in Las Vegas since 1988. He moved to Nevada to join a ministry and be closer to his wife’s parents.

WATCH| Shellye Leggett talks to an army vet who’s recently moved into Escalante at the Lakes assisted living facility

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Holiday loneliness affects thousands in Nevada as many face Christmas away from loved ones

“I wanted to come and join ministry here. Also my wife’s parents lived here,” Valli said.

Valli’s wife Barbara, known to friends and family as Bobby, passed away in 2018 after 54 years of marriage.

“I’m still counting the years. We’ve been married 54 years,” he said.

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His children moved him into Escalante at the Lakes assisted living facility in June, making this his first holiday season in his new home.

“People are very nice, they treat you good,” Valli said.

Come Christmas Day, the facility’s common room will be filled with residents ready for holiday activities, but Valli hopes to get outside these walls to see his family that still lives nearby.

“I have grandkids. One goes to Cal Poly. He’s here right now, but he’s on vacation, and then I have two little granddaughters, one’s 11, one’s 7,” Valli said. “I don’t know if they’re gonna come for Christmas or I’m going there.”

Gus Farias, the executive director of Escalante at the Lakes Assisted Living, says many of his residents don’t have family nearby. Keeping their spirits high throughout the holidays is an important task.

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“We can tell when our residents are feeling down. There’s a lot of pressure during the holidays because some of our residents don’t have families that are nearby, but they have us,” Farias said.

The organisation A Mission for Michael released a study showing just how many people are expected to spend the holidays alone this year. Nevada ranked 43rd on the list of loneliest states, with more than 212,000 people expected to spend Christmas by themselves.

“It’s pretty surprising that there’s so many Nevadans that are gonna spend the holidays by themselves,” Farias said.

He says combating loneliness will take a community effort.

“When you’re at the grocery store or whatever, reach, look back and ask them, you know, wish them a merry Christmas or happy holidays and ask them how they passed their holidays in the past because we, we as a younger generation than our seniors, we can learn a lot from that,” Farias said.

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It’s an effort that Valli says makes the holidays a little brighter.

“Oh, it makes a big difference,” he said.





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