For the casual fan in Winnemucca, the people know the Reno Bighorns are an NBA D-League that visited Winnemucca a couple times and put on a good show for the fans at Lowry High School.
After visiting Twin Falls, Idaho, this year for an exhibition game to payback the Idaho Stampede for its trips to Winnemucca, the Bighorns had a season to remember.
Under new coach David Areseneault, the Bighorns became the talk of Reno and the rest of the country. Reno’s style of play hit the national level with appearances on ESPN, leading off Sportscenter, attention from the Dan Patrick Show and a player appearing on the Late Late Show.
Behind the scenes of the Bighorns are two Lowry High School graduates in Allison Strekal and Kyle Jones. The two were a big part of getting Reno’s name out.
Strekal is the President of Business Operations for Reno. She began her first stint with the Bighorns in 2010 in community and marketing relations. She left the Bighorns for a short time, but came back this past sesaon in the position she holds now.
Strekal is in charge of the daily business operations on a day-to-day basis and she said this year was one to member.
“It has been exciting,” Strekal said. “I never thought we would get the attention we did. It doesn’t get any better, when you are leading off Sportscenter.”
News outlets started to pick up on Reno’s play, as Areseneault played a run and gun style offense that saw Reno average 133 points a game this year. The coach was equally vilified for the lack of defense the Bighorns played as well.
“It was a different style than anybody has seen,” said Strekal. “People were not used to the way were playing. We were creating our own little niche and everyone started to notice us. We started to get more attention and people were getting interested.”
To throw some numbers out there, Reno averaged 103 shots a game, including 46 3-point field goals. Reno scored 174 points in a game against Los Angeles this year. The Bighorns also scored 153 in a loss to Rio Grande, leading them to be the top story on ESPN’s Sportcenter.
“It turned out to be a great season,” Strekal added. “We saw a big increase in our fan base and ticket sales. Fans were coming out to see our product. We have really tried to build a good community base and it is working.”
Reno is an affiliate with the Sacramento Kings of the NBA. This year, Reno sent seven players to the NBA. That was best among D-League teams. There are 18 teams in the D-League, with every squad having one affiliate, except Fort Wayne.
“Our product is definitely working and we can see the support out there,” Strekal said. “The league is getting more recognition with contracts with ESPN and CBS Sports Network. With the TV deal, it gives us more opportunities to showcase the Bighorns and Reno.”
With her position in the organization, there is always the chance for Strekal to move up to the next level in the NBA. However, she noted she is happy where she is right now.
“There is always that chance,” she added. “That would be the ultimate goal. But, I like Reno and what I am doing now. There are still things for me to learn.”
Jones, who wrapped up his first year in Reno and found himself a busy man, as the Media and Community Relations Manager.
“It was a crazy year for sure,” Jones said. “I never expected the attention that we would get for our style of play.”
Early in the season, Jones found himself getting Brady Heslip on to the Dan Patrick Show. Heslip’s name came about on the show when, host Patrick, was talking about Heslip with NBA Hall of Famer Reggie Miller. Heslip came on to the scene for his 3-point shooting. Heslip played just 20 games in Reno, before going overseas to play in Europe.
“When we heard about it, we wanted to get him on the show,” Jones said. “When it happened, ‘it was like holy cow, I just got one our guys on the Dan Patrick Show.’”
Another player that drew national attention was 7 foot, 5 inch center Sim Bhullar, who became the first player of Indian decent to play in an NBA game. Bhullar made an appearance on the Late Late Show, alongside Kunal Nayyar (Raj from the Big Bang Theory). It’s likely that Bhullar will be back in Reno next season.
“I worked with NBA India and was able to get him on the Late Late Show,” Jones said. “It was absolutely incredible to work with those people. Never in my dreams did I think I had a chance to do that. To have a player from the NBA D-League on the show is incredible.”
It just wasn’t sports outlets that were interested in Reno, but national newspapers as well.
“When the Wall Street Journal called for me, I wanted to know who in the office was messing with me,” Jones said. “You just do not get a call from the Wall Street Journal. It is a cool thing to be part of. I am talking to all these different types of outlets and some I never thought I would talk to. I had the chance to work with ESPN Magazine. With that reach, probably over a million people saw that article.”
Jones is also in charge of the social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) and he noted there has been a huge jump in interest. Reno had 100,000 more views on its Website, 5,000 more likes on Facebook and a number of re-tweets on Twitter.
“We have had plenty of negative press about our system we run,” Jones said. “It is all offense and there is little defense. “Still, we got seven call ups to the NBA. Something is working and it is cool to see those guys go to the NBA. I look back and think that guy was in my car last week.”
The future looks bright for the team with ticket sales and sponsorship up.
“With me an Allison just finishing our first year in our roles, there are good things ahead for us,” Jones said. “We learned a lot and everything is picking up, which is nice. The biggest thing I learned was to stay organized. And the calendar is your best friend. The job is fantastic. It’s a lot of work, a lot of hours and a lot of patience. But, you see a giant payoff at the end of the year, with the media reach we got this year. It’s something different every single day and you don’t know what it is going to be thrown at you. You have to go from zero to 100 really quick.”
Jones added her dream would be to get a media relations job in the NBA and she would like to move up with Sacramento, since it is so close to Reno.
“It has been a blast working with Allison,” Jones said. “It’s fun working with someone from Winnemucca. We never really knew each other when we were in high school.”
With scheduling being tough, Reno may still come back to Winnemucca for an exhibition game in the future. The Bighorns will likely be back in Idaho again this November.
“Myself and Allison were talking about that and we are hoping to do that,” Jones said. “It’s a basketball operations type of deal. It is what the team feels is the best for them.”
