Cameron Oliver’s return is one reason expectations are high at UNR

UNR was coming off its College Basketball Invitational championship last season, but there wasn’t much time to celebrate.

The Wolf Pack had to wait to see if 6-foot-8-inch forward Cameron Oliver, who just finished his freshman season averaging 13.4 points and 9.1 rebounds, would go pro or return to campus.

“I really wanted to get as much feedback as I possibly could, see more the business side of how the NBA works and see where I actually stand,” Oliver said.

On May 23, Oliver withdrew from consideration for the NBA Draft, and his return is a key reason the Wolf Pack are expected to challenge defending Mountain West regular-season champion San Diego State for the title. The league media picked UNR, which went 24-14 (10-8 in the MW) last season, to finish second.

Oliver is one of four returning starters for the Wolf Pack. They also get back 6-6 senior guard D.J. Fenner, who averaged 13.7 points and 4.6 rebounds.

Joining them will be three players who didn’t play last season because of transfer rules — 6-6 senior guard Marcus Marshall from Missouri State, 6-7 junior forward Leland King II from Brown and 6-7 sophomore forward Jordan Caroline from Southern Illinois.

Also, two four-star freshman recruits — 5-11 point guard Devearl Ramsey and 6-6 guard Josh Hall — are expected to make immediate impacts.

On the bench will be assistant coach Dave Rice, UNLV’s head coach for 4½ seasons until he was fired in January.

“I think because the three sit-out guys practiced every day last year, it’s not like they’re three new guys,” UNR coach Eric Musselman said. “But we do have to create roles for guys that we think are going to play major minutes. So with the three sit-out guys and our two freshmen, we’ve got five guys that could be a part of a rotation that are new. That’s going to be a work in progress.”

Contact Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2914. Follow @markanderson65 on Twitter.