Pack cornerback sent home early

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Stanley is declared academically ineligible for Hawaii Bowl


-- Senior cornerback and co-captain Kevin Stanley will not play for the Nevada football team in Saturday's Sheraton Hawaii Bowl after being declared academically ineligible on Thursday, coach Chris Ault said.

"We found out this morning, and he is on his way back to Reno," Ault said after the team worked out at Aloha Stadium for two hours on Thursday. "When we left on the weekend, I thought everyone was in good shape. I wasn't worried about it. I didn't expect anything like this."

Freshman De'Angelo Wilson will get the start at cornerback when the Wolf Pack plays Central Florida on Saturday, but Ault said Wilson was slated to start in place of Stanley before the academic problem came up.

"De'Angelo was going to start because he had been the better player," Ault said. "It is not a blow for the team. We will find a way to go without (Stanley). But I wanted him to be part of this game because he helped start the foundation. He should have helped finish it, but he didn't find a way to get it done."

Ault said the biggest disappointment comes from the fact that Stanley was one of four senior captains on the team, which went 8-3 and won a share of the Western Athletic Conference championship this season.

Stanley was fifth on the team with 45 tackles. He has one interception and leads the team with 15 passes defended. He could not be reached for comment.

Saturday's game will mark the first career start for Wilson, a redshirt freshman. The coaching staff had ridden Wilson hard this season, and down the stretch he responded.

"For a while there, he just wasn't getting it done," Ault said. "He snapped around the last three or four games and he started to play more aggressive. We have been pleased with him, and he has done a good job."

 

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Pack's behavior 'superb,' Knights' not so golden


-- The Nevada football team has yet to have any problems in paradise.

The team is staying in a beachside hotel in the heart of Waikiki, surrounded by plenty of nightlife. But as of Thursday afternoon, school officials reported no major problems with the team.

"We are getting more comments on the classiness of our kids," Nevada coach Chris Ault said. "They have been great. The focus is right. The senior leadership has been excellent. We aren't perfect and I am sure there are some mischievous things going on. But they are things that don't hurt anybody and I can sense a good feeling about this team."

Todd Renwick, one of two members of the university's police department who made the trip, said that the players "have been superb" and reported no problems.

"The focus has been good," senior linebacker Roosevelt Cooks said. "It's been better than I thought it would be."

Nevada's opponent in Saturday's Sheraton Hawaii Bowl has had some minor problems. A handful of players were out past curfew earlier in the week and the entire Golden Knights team faced early curfews for the rest of the stay.

SHRINERS VISIT: Five Nevada players visited the Shriners Hospital on Thursday afternoon, delivering gifts to children in the hospital.

The players -- quarterback Jeff Rowe, running back B.J. Mitchell, receiver Caleb Spencer, lineman Adam Kiefer and linebacker Jamaal Jackson -- brought Wolf Pack shirts and mini footballs for the children.

The Pack players toured the hospital along with five players from UCF.

SPONSORSHIP: Sheraton Hotels will remain the title sponsor of the Hawaii bowl through the 2009 game. The extension was announced Thursday.

The game will feature a Western Athletic Conference team every year but in 2006 and 2008, the opponent will come from the Pac-10 Conference. In 2007 and 2009, the opponent will be a Conference USA team.

UNDER THE WEATHER: The cold and flu bug has been hitting the Wolf Pack this week.

About a half-dozen players and two assistant coaches have visited a local urgent care facility after coming down with head colds and fevers. Most of the players have shaken the bug but reserve running back Tommy Haug has been hit hard and has practiced just once this week.

Co-defensive coordinators Barry Sacks and Tim DeRuyter have both been sick this week but have made all of the practices and meetings.

Nevada's training staff said the re-circulated air on the airplane and the climate change likely have caused the sickness.