On weekday mornings, Nevada Sports Net will recap three big headlines of the day in its Morning Download. Read below for today’s topics.
1. Nevada basketball lands two recruits, including four-star SJ Madison
The Nevada men’s basketball team received commitments from two class of 2026 recruits Thursday, including one of the highest-rated prospects to pledge to the Wolf Pack. SJ Madison, a 6-foot-5, 185-pound wing, committed to Nevada as the No. 182 player in the 2026 class, per 247Sports’ composite ranking, which lists him as a three-star recruit. 247Sports’ individual ranking lists Madison as a four-star recruit and No. 130 prospect in his class. He also held scholarship offers from UC Santa Barbara, Long Beach State, Loyola Marymount, UNLV, New Mexico, UT-Arlington and Portland State. The Redondo Beach, Calif., product is the second-highest-rated prep recruit in Nevada’s Steve Alford era behind only Jazz Gardner, who signed with Nevada in the 2023 class. Additionally, Nevada received a commitment from 6-foot, 175-point guard John Mattingly, a three-star prospect and No. 304 national recruit, per 247Sports’ composite ranking. The Phoenix product also held scholarship offers from Northern Arizona and Sacramento State. Nevada is now up to three recruits in its 2026 after previously getting a commitment from 6-9 big Hudson Lucas, from Dallas.
2. Wolf Pack soccer wins while Nevada volleyball loses
Nevada women’s soccer scored its first win since Aug. 17 with a 1-0 victory over Grand Canyon on Thursday night to improve to 1-1-1 in Mountain West play and 2-7-2 overall. Jasmine Navarro netted the game-winning goal, a header, in the 60th minute on a perfect cross from Abigail Souza off a set piece before the Wolf Pack held on as keeper Mia Collins pitched a shutout with seven saves, including a penalty-kick stop in the 86th minute. Nevada plays its first league road game Sunday at Wyoming. Meanwhile, Nevada volleyball lost in four sets to rival UNLV at Virginia Street Gym to fall to 4-9 overall and 0-3 in the MW. The Rebels won by scores of 25-21, 12-25, 25-15 and 25-22. Nevada next hosts San Diego State on Saturday.
3. Nevada swim and dive kicks off 2025-26 season
The Nevada swim and dive team kicks off its season tomorrow by hosting Cal State East Bay at Lombardi Pool. The Wolf Pack finished fourth at last year’s Mountain West Championships, which was one of the school’s best finishes by sport last season. Nevada returns a lot of last year’s point-getters with a deeper pool of divers (six, up from two last year) and an excellent group of junior swimmers. Standouts include Scarlett Ferris, Enkhkhuslen Batbayar and Bailey Heydra, who could all qualify for the NCAA Championships. Head coach Brendan Bray breaks down his roster in the tweet below.