The Nevada Sagebrush

Nevada men's basketball head coach David Carter talks with guard Brandon Fields. Photo by Amy Beck/Nevada Sagebrush

Gun cases, transfers and the departure of one of the most successful coaches in school history has some Wolf Pack men’s basketball fans thinking the train has derailed.

Nevada has already lost three players since former head coach Mark Fox signed a multi-million dollar deal the University of Georgia on April 3, while two more are requesting to be released from their commitment to Nevada.

Eyes are pointed at the Wolf Pack’s new head coach David Carter, who is trying to keep the pieces together while adding team depth.

“It hasn’t been smooth the last month,”Carter said. “Hopefully it gets better. I don’t think it could get any worse.”

While Carter faces an uphill battle in “re-recruiting,”flexibility and foresight to ease off-court tensions and future on-court discrepancies will be needed.

Off-court tensions

When former Nevada basketball player Ahyaro Phillips was accused of bringing a gun to Lombardi Recreation Center April 15 he alienated recruits and gave Nevada a bad name, Nevada athletics director Cary Groth said.

“Ahyaro did not make a good decision and his decision has put us in a bad situation,”she said.

Less than two weeks after Phillips was kicked off the team, Nevada recruit Steven Bjornstad, a 6-foot-10, 240 pound center from Vancouver, Wash., sent a request to Groth asking out of his letter of intent to play at Nevada.

Bjornstad cited Phillips’ gun case as an influence in making his decision, Carter said.

Groth denied Bjornstad’s request.

Carter, who visited Bjornstad’s home immediately after Phillips was kicked off the team, said he communicated with the incoming freshman over the phone on Saturday.

“I think we made some progress,”Carter said. “(Bjornstad’s) still got his concerns and worries, but I did reach out to him and we did talk. I think we did make progress but it’s hard to tell because he is a quiet kid and he still wants to think about some things.”

Carter can no longer visit Bjornstad face-to-face because NCAA rules forbid him from doing so while Bjornstad’s case goes through the appeals process.

Bjornstad’s appeal will go before the National Letter of Intent Committee. If denied, he can still transfer but he must sit out for a season and will lose a year of eligibility.

Bjornstad was Nevada’s highest-acclaimed recruit next to Mark McLaughlin, who also requested to opt out of his letter of intent.

McLaughlin, a top-100 recruit according to Rivals.com, was granted his request.

“It was a different situation,”Groth said. “We thought it was a good decision to release him, for us and him.”

McLaughlin was expected to play for Nevada in the 2008-09 season, but he was forced to go to prep school after he was declared academically ineligible for college following his graduation of high school.

Off-court issues aren’t entirely centralized around incoming recruits, though.

Nevada sophomore forward Malik Cooke asked for a transfer two weeks ago. Groth denied his request as well. Cooke cited family circumstances as a reason for his decision.

Cooke filled an appeal that was denied by a campus faculty committee led by athletics and academics compliance officer Dr. Jean Perry. Cooke faces two options: stay at Nevada, or transfer and sit out an entire season without scholarship aid.

“I have to put together a team for next year,”Carter, who hasn’t spoken with Cooke for more than a week, said. “We have to move forward. We have to prepare for (not having Cooke next year) and start worrying about next year’s team.”

On-court discrepancies

While the Wolf Pack returns a solid group of five players who have started at Nevada — Armon Johnson, Brandon Fields, Joey Shaw, Luke Babbitt and Dario Hunt — Nevada will lack depth at guard and a true center in the post.

If Bjornstad transfers, Nevada is faced with even steeper odds at finding players to play in the post.

Carter has focused much of his energy on the power forward and center positions.

“A lot of the times you’re normally disappointed if you go into a season with three or four guys at that position because you don’t really get to practice against each other and it takes its toll and wear guys out,”Carter said.

Nevada offered Australia center Jordan Vandenberg a scholarship, but he opted to go to North Carolina State last week. Carter was in Australia on a recruiting tour just before Vandenberg committed to play with North Carolina State, but he wouldn’t confirm whether he visited Vandenberg because of NCAA rules.

“I’m not going to panic if we don’t get another big guy,”Carter said.

Carter did say he was confident Devonte Elliot, a 6-foot-8, 220-pound power forward from Paramount High School in Paramount, Calif., will not opt out of his commitment to Nevada.

But even with Elliot, Nevada will be a small team in 2009-10 if it fails to recruit a big man because Dario Hunt, at 6-foot-8, is better suited for the power forward position because of his height.

If Nevada lacks size in 2009-10, Carter said he would implement penetration defense to create an up-tempo game on offense — something to be expected from a former point guard. He also said he wouldn’t mind playing a little more zone defense at times, a tactic Fox rarely used.

Carter will have his first chance to lead his team on the court later this month when Nevada goes to Europe to play local competition.

“It gives the guys a chance to get a feel for me,”Carter said. “It is also a recruiting tool.”

Emerson Marcus can be reached at emarcus@nevadasagebrush.com.

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