One Nevada football walk-on put on scholarship while another arrested

Sam Hammond didn't even know if he was going to play college athletics after being a three-sport standout at Yerington High. Now he's a scholarship athlete.

Coach Jay Norvell has shifted Hammond, a 6-foot-5, 255-pound defensive end, from walk-on to full-ride scholarship starting this summer. Hammond appeared in all 12 games, mostly on special teams, as a redshirt freshman in 2017 while becoming the first Yerington alum to earn a Wolf Pack football letter since Scott Lommori in 1987.

Hammond recorded one solo tackle and returned a squib kick for 12 yards last season while earning All-Mountain West academic honors. In addition to football, Hammond excelled in basketball and track and field in high school, getting the most interest in the latter sport. His Yerington friend, Reese Neville, was invited to Nevada as a preferred walk-on in 2016, which helped grease the path for Hammond to also join the team.

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Cody Neville, Reese's dad and Sam's football coach at Yerington, said for a feature on the two last month that Hammond was oozing talent but limited in offers coming out of high school.

“It’s frustrating as a coach when you know you have a high-level player,” Cody said. “Look at Sam. He’s 6-foot-5, 230 pounds at that time and competes in state in the 400 meters. That kind of an athlete and neither one of them got much interest from any schools. It’s crazy there was that kind of talent going unnoticed.”

After two seasons at Nevada, Hammond showed enough production and potential to be put on scholarship. The Wolf Pack added a number of big-bodied, junior-college defensive linemen in its 2018 recruiting class to beef up its size up front defensively, but Hammond is expected to compete for a spot on the two-deep depth chart.

During April's spring camp, Hammond, who put on 25-30 pounds during winter conditioning, said he felt like he was getting closer to regular playing time.

"I feel like this will be my breakout year," Hammond said.

Hammond moved from Palm Springs, Calif., to Yerington prior to the sixth grade to get into a better environment. He immediately embraced the rural Nevada town of 3,000 people 75 miles southeast of Reno in Lyon County, and said one of the reasons he continued to push hard despite being a walk-on was because of the community support.

“They mean everything to us,” Hammond said of the people in Yerington. “I think some days, ‘I don’t know if I want to do this,’ and then I think there are so many people behind me, so many people telling me, ‘I’m in your corner, Sam.’ I don’t know how I can let them down."

WALK-ON DEVIN PORTER ARRESTED

Devin Porter, a walk-on entering his fourth season at Nevada, was arrested Sunday at 5:33 p.m. by the Sparks Police Department for failure to appear on a traffic citation.

The charge is a misdemeanor. If a defendant skips a court date, a judge can issue a bench warrant for their arrest. If 30 days pass before a defendant surrenders himself, an additional charge for "failure to appear" can be issued. The maximum sentence for such issue includes four years in prison and/or $5,000 in fines, although both are rare.

Porter was issued a $415 bail, which he posted and was released.

A Nevada spokesperson said the department is aware of the situation and still gathering more information at this time.

The Hug High graduate, a 6-2, 200-pound defensive player who has rotated positions during his time at Nevada, will be a junior next season. He has yet to appear in a game for the Wolf Pack. His brother, Cliff, was a starter at left guard for Nevada as a sophomore last season before graduating early and giving up the rest of his eligibility.