The Nevada Sagebrush

Wolf Pack senior Brandon Fields is having the best season of his career. The guard is eighth in the Western Athletic Conference in scoring with 16.2 points per game. He is also averaging five rebounds per game. Photo by Casey Durkin/Nevada Sagebrush

Last season was supposed to be Brandon Fields’ time to shine.

He was the most experienced and highest-scoring player returning to a team that was picked to finish first in the Western Athletic Conference.

Then came Oct. 15, 2008.

On this day, Fields, along with a pair of freshman teammates, was cited for misdemeanor petty larceny and was suspended indefinitely from the team.

He did not play in the team’s first two games and was relegated to the bench after starting 32 games the prior season.

“It hit me hard,” Fields, now a senior, said. “Coming off of the bench … it wasn’t for me. It was hard for me to get into a good rhythm when I did get into games. But I knew I messed up, so I had to deal with the consequences.”

The guard knew this was not the legacy he wanted to leave the Wolf Pack.

“It humbled me a lot,” Fields said of last year’s situation. “I want to leave a positive mark on this team when I go and I see things a lot differently now in every aspect of life. I’m just trying to put everything behind me.”

Now, Fields is back this season with a vengeance and has put last year’s debacle behind him. He is the seventh leading scorer in the WAC at 16.2 points per game (career high) while shooting 47 percent from the field and averaging five rebounds per game. The 6-foot-4 slasher has taken his game to a new level of aggression, frequently driving into the lane with no remorse against much taller defenders.

Wolf Pack men’s head basketball coach David Carter said he is proud of how Fields has bounced back from the 2008-09 season.

“Sometimes when a young man gets in a situation he was in, it’s hard to fight and get back to where you were,” Carter said. “He’s done a great job in the spring, the summer and the fall to let that go. It’s a new season, he’s gotten past what happened and it’s been good to see him come out stronger.

“Unfortunately, sometimes young men like him need an eye-opening experience like that to put everything in perspective for them.”

Fields is now back to his regular role as a starter for the Wolf Pack this season and his impact on the team goes far beyond just his scoring.

Many times at Nevada’s basketball games, Fields takes younger players aside to share some of the wisdom he’s learned with them.

“I’m going to be the senior leader this year,” he said. “We have a sophomore leader in Luke (Babbitt) and a junior leader in Armon (Johnson), so I’m going to try to be the main senior leader. I’m going to try to take everyone under my wing and teach them. They all know what I’ve been through and I’ve come out better for it.”

Carter is already taking notice of Fields’ changed mentality from last season.

“He’s come out this year very determined,” Carter said. “You can tell that he’s taken a leadership position and that’s good because it’s going to fall on his shoulders as well as Armon Johnson’s because they’ve been here the longest and they know the program best.”

Juan López can be reached at jlopez@nevadasagebrush.com.

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