Thursday, June 10, 1999

Nevada will be
competitive as soon
as it joins WAC

The Wolf Pack has been
especially strong in football
and baseball

By Pat Bigold
Star-Bulletin

Nevada athletic director Chris Ault found an interesting historical item that ties his school to Hawaii.

"Nevada was the first college team to travel to play your university in football," he said. "That was, I believe, 1920, and we won, 14-0."

Score one for the Wolf Pack, the newest member of the Western Athletic Conference, and score one for Ault's grasp of history.

Maybe the 13th-year AD has inspired a marketing slogan for June Jones's first matchup with the Wolf Pack next year: "Remember 1920!"

Nevada ends its eight-year affiliation with the Big West on July 1, 2000, and will become the WAC's ninth member.

It's the seventh conference change for Nevada in the school's 100-year athletic history.

The 52-year-old Ault, born in Los Angeles, has been with the school for 23 years. He knows the move to the secession-marred WAC is a good one for Nevada because his programs will gain higher credibility against higher caliber competition.

"It's a more competitive conference," said Ault. "Most of the coaches have either pro experience or longtime veteran experience in college, and there's some national exposure."

How long it will take Nevada to gain parity with the WAC's programs is anybody's guess.

But there are some areas in which the Wolf Pack should assimilate more quickly.

"Football has been our No. 1 sport, we draw well, and I think we can be competitive right away," said Ault.

"We have had one of the top offenses in the country for the last six or seven years. We are solid."

Mackay Stadium, home of the Wolf Pack, seats 31,500.

"We have 60 skyboxes that are sold out to the year 2003. Over the last three years, we averaged close to 24,000 a game," said Ault.

The Wolf Pack was 3-2 in the Big West and 6-5 overall under third-year coach Jeff Tisdell.

Baseball is another area in which Nevada won't have to take a back seat.

"We're one of the top 30 in the country," said Ault.

Last season, 16th-year head coach Gary Powers' team was 21-9 in the Big West and 38-20 overall.

The Wolf Pack went to the NCAA regionals and was beaten by Stanford.

They average 1,100 fans at Beccole Park.

"The ball flies out of there," said Hawaii coach Les Murakami.

The basketball program, which averages 6,500 at Lawlor Events Center, is entering a rebuilding phase under new head coach Trent Johnson, who was an assistant to 1999 Pac-10 coach of the year, Mike Montgomery, at Stanford.

Under departed coach Pat Foster, the Wolf Pack was 4-12 in the Big West and 8-18 overall.

"Johnson comes out of that good Montgomery stable and he'll fit in real well in the WAC," said Hawaii head coach Riley Wallace. "He's a class guy, and he'll recruit well."

The women's volleyball program won the East Division of the Big West last season with a 12-4 record under second-year head coach Devin Scruggs. But Ault said the team doesn't draw well in women's sports.

Ault said he has no problems with operating in a conference that includes a program 2,500 miles out in the Pacific Ocean.

"We sure don't," he said.

"It does cost to travel, but I think our association with Hawaii and the opportunity to use that in recruiting is well worth it."

How the Wolf Pack teams fared this year: Football -- 6-5 overall, 3-2 Big West Men's basketball -- 8-18 overall, 4-12 Big West-East Division Women's basketball -- 9-19 overall, 4-10 Big West-East Division Baseball -- 38-20 overall, 21-9 Big West Women's volleyball -- 12-4, 1st place, Big West-East Division Men's tennis -- 6-7 Big West Women's tennis -- 8-14 Big West Women's swimming -- Big West champion Women's cross-country -- 8th at Big West Conference Meet Women's golf -- 2nd place Big West Men's golf -- 5th place Big West Sports in which the Wolf Pack does not field a team: men's volleyball, soccer (women's program to be added in fall 2000), softball, water polo, sailing.