Update: Nevada's Josh Hall will transfer to Missouri State

Chris Murray | Reno Gazette-Journal

Update: Hall announced late Friday he was transferring to Missouri State. Hall said via Twitter: "I would like to thank the University of Nevada, Reno for providing me an opportunity to become not only a better basketball player, but also a better person. I have received nothing but support and love from my teammates, Coach Musselman, the entire coaching staff and all of the Wolf Pack Nation. I will always cherish my time in Reno, but I have decided to continue my basketball career at Missouri State University. I look forward to contributing whatever I can to the MSU program. I thank God for providing me another opportunity to play the game I love." See the original story below.

Nevada basketball player Josh Hall, who sunk the biggest shot in program history, has requested and received permission from the Wolf Pack to transfer.

The Wolf Pack began full-team summer practices Monday and Hall was not a part of that cast, although he is enrolled in classes at Nevada and is planning on being enrolled in both of the university’s five-week summer school courses. Hall hasn’t taken any official visits to other schools yet, but he could as soon as this weekend.

Hall just completed his sophomore season with the Wolf Pack, capping an up-and-down campaign by hitting the game-winning shot against Cincinnati to send Nevada to the Sweet 16. Hall got inconsistent minutes last season and was likely destined for decreased playing time next year on Nevada’s loaded roster.

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Hall, a top-150 national recruit in the 2016 class, played 64 games, including 17 starts, for the Wolf Pack. He averaged 3.7 points and 2.6 rebounds per game as a freshman. He boosted those numbers to 6.9 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.4 assists last season, shooting 50.3 percent from the field and 30 percent from the 3-point line. Hall played a crucial role during Nevada’s NCAA Tournament run last March.

In three tournament games, Hall averaged 13 points and 4.7 rebounds on 65.4 percent shooting. He reached double figures in all three games, wins over Texas and Cincinnati before the Wolf Pack lost to Loyola Chicago in the Sweet 16.

In the 22-point comeback against Cincinnati, the second-largest in tournament history, Hall grabbed an offensive rebound with 13 seconds left and lifted a floater from 7 feet away that hit front rim, slapped against the backboard and slipped through the net with 9.1 seconds left. That shot proved to be the game-winner and sent Nevada to its second Sweet 16 in school history.

“I saw an opening and saw them going to close out to the shooters because it looked like I was going to pass it out,” Hall said after the win. “I saw an opening and tried to put as much touch on it as possible because of how close I was. We're just speechless right now. We're just really excited to move forward. A lot of people had us losing the Texas game. For us to keep winning, fighting, battling, we can't keep getting down every game, but everybody is so excited and everyone is resilient.”

Hall also played big in Nevada’s win over Texas in the first round, tallying 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting with six rebounds.

“The spark, honestly I felt like, was Josh,” Cody Martin said after the win over Texas. “Josh came in and dominated the middle. He was making floaters and moving around the paint on the baseline getting open layups and he was playing defense. I felt like he was the spark plug. He hit some really, really tough shots.”

Hall’s departure decreases the Wolf Pack’s total number of scholarship players to 13, which is the NCAA limit. After Caleb and Cody Martin announced last month they would bypass the NBA draft and return to school for their senior seasons, Nevada was left with 15 scholarship players, two over the limit.

In addition to Hall’s exit, Ehab Amin, a graduate transfer from Texas A&M Corpus Christi who committed to Nevada in early May, announced he would not play for the Wolf Pack and look for a better opportunity after the Martins’ decision. Amin had cut his list of finalists to Oregon, Boston College, Rutgers, and Wichita State.