Every sports venue at the University of Nevada, Reno has its distinct relic or memory. Wolf Pack fans will always hear howling through the venue, see their mascots Alphie, Wolfie Jr., and Luna and watch countless performances from the cheer team.
Among that group, however, is someone who truly makes Nevada sporting events one of a kind. Jean-Alexander Loumith Fonvile is a name many might not know, but his nickname, the Nevada hype man, travels through Pack fans’ memories, almost as much as the loud and vibrant personality he brings with him.
Known as Alex to his teammates, he’s been the heart and soul of the Nevada cheer and spirit team for the past few years. Seeing him now, you’d think he’s been in the cheer setting all his life. That’s far from the truth, however, as Fonvile has come a long way from his younger days in the Bay Area.
Fonvile grew up in Palo Alto, California, and was involved in sports all his life. He played football, and sports in the Bay are no walk in the park.
“I played schools like Junípero Serra High School, where Tom Brady came from,” Fonvile said. “My own high school was the alma mater of both Joc Pederson and Davante Adams. We play ball out there, you know? It’s legit out there.”
Fonvile may not have ended up in the NFL, but he was good enough to receive multiple college offers, including Central Washington and Oregon State. He went with neither, ultimately landing with Nevada as an outside-the-box decision, and saw it as a new beginning.
“It’s always about that new start, that new chance to be who you want to be, not who you had to be growing up,” Fonvile said. “So I wanted to step out of the comfort zone and took a shot at Reno.”
Fonvile had the idea of playing football with the Wolf Pack after a few strength and conditioning coaches told him they’d let him know when tryouts opened up. He said those calls never came, and it was hard not to be down himself.
But that wasn’t the end of his loud, athletic spirit. Feeling lost inside his dorm room, a friend of his told him he should try out for the mascot team. Fonvile needed something in it for him, so his friend bet him $20.
That was enough for Fonvile, who said despite still having an offer from Central Washington, he decided to take the bet.
“I was like, ‘if I don’t make it, I get $20’,” Fonvile said. “I go about my day, and nothing changes. So I was like, ‘I’ll head out there’. I said screw it.”
But thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, things didn’t go exactly as planned for Fonvile.
Because everything was shut down, the mascot team said anyone who had applied would make the team due to the uncertainty of there even being a season.
“I saw that email and I started going ‘damn, I’m out 20 bucks’,” Fonvile said. “But mama never raised a quitter.”
Being a mascot was short-lived after Fonvile got closer with the boys on the stunt team. He admitted he was skeptical about male cheerleaders, but Fonvile said getting closer to them made him realize they’re brothers.
“We’d have frat boys,” Fonvile said. “We’ve had people that have done all-star and competitive cheer. Some guys that were football players, but then were like, ‘I’m bored. I’m going to go throw girls around.’ You have a mix of really cool people, and that’s something I really enjoy, like the diversity between people and the diversity you see and personalities.”
Fonvile felt like he had hit his prime. He became a stunt boy, made countless friendships and was becoming a cornerstone of the Nevada Athletics experience.
But in August of 2022, everything came to an abrupt stop. Fonvile was riding his skateboard on campus when he was hit by a car. He didn’t know what happened in the moment, and because of his durability from football, he was able to get up like nothing happened.
“I slid up their hood,” Fonvile said. “I hit the front windshield, and I cracked it with my head, flipped over the back of it, landed on the ground and then, like, slid about a foot. And then I got up.”
Fonvile said he had a sharp pain in his hip after, but physically, he was OK. His mental state, however, took a turn for the worse and hit him harder than any car ever could.
He was diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury. Since taking a break had never been his thing, Fonvile rushed the recovery process, leading to a wave of old trauma hitting him, ultimately resulting in an eating disorder.
One day, Fonvile and the cheer team had a full day of basketball during the day and a football game the same night. Fonvile said football games are normally a 12-hour day for the cheer and stunt team, so adding basketball required more than 100 percent.
“I was eating nothing but gummy bears and pretzels,” Fonvile said. “That’s all I had, and I did everything, gave 110 percent, and I woke up in the morning absolutely unable to move my body. Legitimately, I couldn’t move my muscles.”
It didn’t hit Fonvile until he woke up one morning and couldn’t move, so he yelled for his roommate, who had to spoon-feed him. That same roommate told him he needed to find help, and Fonvile said hearing that from someone who cares about you truly puts it into perspective.
Taking the advice, Fonvile stepped away to get better.
“It was just like dang, I couldn’t be a part of it,” Fonvile said. “But I needed it. I needed that help. I needed that healthy restart to my life.”
Fonvile said he couldn’t have done it without the support of his team, and even when he was away, it felt like they were his brothers and sisters. That restart helped lead to the hype man we see today.
But where did the hype man nickname come from?
“That started because most people in Athletics didn’t know my actual name,” Fonvile said.
Fans and Nevada staff saw his hyper energy and would send constant emails to his coach about it. While most people might take offense if someone doesn’t know their name, Fonvile embraced it, knowing he was Nevada’s greatest ‘hype man.’
“I kind of like this,” Fonvile said. “I kind of like the fact that they don’t know my name. I kind of like this idea that it’s not necessarily about me, you know? It’s about what I can bring.”
One of Fonvile’s most iconic moves is his ‘high-five line’ across the court side seats at Lawlor. He starts at one end of the court, runs at full speed with his hand out to give high fives and stops at the very last courtside seat to shake that person’s hand, almost as if he didn’t just turn into prime Derrick Henry running at full speed.
Fonvile said it makes the fans laugh every time, and has become such a recognizable thing that fans already put their hands out as soon as they see him line up at the end of the court.
Those same fans and the Reno community in general is what has made the journey even more special for Fonvile.
“It’s also some donors or just some random fans who will, like, go out, find my Instagram and DM me and be like, ‘Oh, I got this crazy shot of you,’” Fonvile said. “And I always want to interact with them because I’m like, ‘If they’re going to do that extra, and it takes confidence just to reach out to someone like that, and they have it.” I’m going to definitely go back and give back.”
While the spirits have been high, all good things must come to an end. It’s the final semester for Fonvile, who has been calling it “the last dance” through his social media. He said he has plenty of ideas for his life post-Nevada, including a teacher, a counselor and a sports media personality. His mom also lives in Sacramento, which has given him an eye for the Sacramento Kings in case they need a hype man.
“I can chant ‘light the beam’ real well,” Fonvile said.
In terms of advice he wants to leave to anyone he’s inspired, Fonvile kept it sweet and simple: don’t be afraid to be you.
“The only reason this worked was because I decided not to hide,” Fonvile said. “And the only reason people tend to get along with me is because I’m unapologetically me, no matter what.”
He also said to not be afraid to try anything new because deep down, you may have an inkling that you’ll enjoy it, the same way he found it with cheer.
“I wouldn’t have taken the bet at all if I didn’t know somewhere deep down, I might be good at this,” Fonvile said. “It’s not just about those 20 bucks. Yes, 20 bucks matter. I’m broke, right? We all broke. But I might be good at this. I had an inkling of this personality, so use it, right? Don’t shy away just because it’s the norm; go check it out.”
As time goes on, Nevada will see new athletes, cheerleaders and stunt boys, but something the university will never be able to replace or replicate is the one and only Nevada hype man.
