Chris Murray

cmurray@rgj.com

The Wolf Pack basketball team is hosting transfers, with the team clearly identifying additional shooting as a need in the present and the future.

Nevada brought Coppin State transfer Christian Kessee to town over the weekend and is hosting Kendall Stephens, a transfer from Purdue, later on an official visit.

Kessee is eligible immediately as a graduate transfer and has one year of college remaining. The 6-foot-2, 180-pound guard averaged 14.6 points per game as a junior, shooting 39 percent from the floor and 39.5 percent from three. A Las Vegas native, Kessee hit 88 3-poiniters this season and has hit 141 in his career. Kessee has already visited Old Dominion and Tulane and also will visit Memphis.

Stephens is a 6-foot-6, 200-pound wing player originally from Saint Charles, Ill. He has averaged 7.8 points per game, shot 36.2 percent from 3-point range and hit 175 treys during his three seasons at Purdue. Under NCAA rules, Stephens would have to redshirt in 2016-17 before being eligible in 2017-18.

Rice eager to begin next chapter of career with Pack

Stephens also is expected to visit the University of San Diego, according to CBS' Jon Rothstein. Stephens' visit to Nevada is expected to be over the weekend of May 14-15.

Stephens set career highs in points (8.0) and field-goal shooting (35.6) as a freshman but has seen those numbers fall a little during each season at Purdue, where his father, Everette Stephens, starred in the 1980s before reaching the NBA. While Stephens is exploring his transfer options, Purdue coach, Matt Painter, has left the door open for him to return to school.

“Kendall has asked for his release to explore the possibility of transferring, but he remains a member of our team, and the door remains open for his return," Painter said in a news release when Stephens announced his transfer last month. "He is weighing his options.”

Wolf Pack coaching staff an incredible bargain

Stephens' junior season was interrupted following the death of a close friend, which took him away from the team for a week. Stephens averaged a career-low 6.2 points per game on 34.3 percent shooting, including 31.7 percent from 3-point range, last year. He played more than five minutes in only one of Purdue's final 16 games and could be due for a fresh start.

The Wolf Pack has two scholarship open following the departure of guard Eric Cooper Jr., who transferred to Pepperdine. Nevada is expected to be active on the transfer market much like it was last season when it added D-I transfers Marcus Marshall (Missouri State), Jordan Caroline (Southern Illinois) and Leland King (Brown), who are all eligible this season.

In addition to Kessee and Stephens, the Wolf Pack is in the hunt for Washington State transfer Que Johnson, who averaged 11.3 points per game last season while shooting 40.4 percent from three. While Nevada made vast improvements last season, the team still struggling from 3-point range.

RELATED: