Kretschmer in good shape; two Nevada players in trouble

By SCOTT SONNER
Associated Press Writer

RENO, Nev. (AP) Nevada running back Chance Kretschmer is ahead of schedule recovering from last year's season-ending knee injury and should be ready to play for the Wolf Pack in the fall, Coach Chris Tormey said Wednesday.

But two other Nevada players facing criminal charges have been removed from the team, one permanently and one at least a temporarily.

Kretschmer, who led the NCAA in rushing in 2001 averaging 157.5 yards per game as a freshman, was hurt the second game of last year. He had surgery in September to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.

``Chance appears to be ahead of schedule in rehabilitation. He has the full range of motion in his knee,'' Tormey said Wednesday.

``He's a bigger and stronger Chance Kretschmer than you've seen,'' weighing about 225 lbs., he told reporters.

Kretschmer will sit out spring practice and see only limited action in fall camp, Tormey said.

``The upside of the injury, if there was one, was that it was early in the season and he will have had almost 12 months to recover,'' he said.

On a more ``unpleasant'' topic, Tormey said Gary Snyder, 19, a walk-on freshman receiver, has been dismissed from the team as a result of his arrest Jan. 29 on suspicion of sexual assault.

Linebacker Craig Bailey, who was arrested Jan. 25 on suspicion of battering his girlfriend in his UNR dorm room, has been ``placed on probation'' with regard to his team status, Tormey said.

Baily, a freshman from Lakewood, Calif., who played in seven games for the Wolf Pack last year, admitted to police he got into an argument, tore off his girlfriend's shirt and grabbed her neck when she went into his room to retrieve some belongings, UNR police told the Reno Gazette-Journal.

``He has not been dismissed,'' Tormey said. ``He has been placed on probation pending the outcome of the charges against him.''

(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)