The 2017 local sports year saw the Wolf Pack basketball team reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time in a decade, a minor-league soccer team debut in downtown Reno, Nevada football keep the Fremont Cannon, two local prep football stars get recruited on a national level, Gabby Williams become a major star before returning to Northern Nevada and locals winning NFL and NBA championships. Needless to say, it was a busy year. Here are the top-10 local sports stories of 2017, as judged by the Reno Gazette Journal sports staff.
1. Wolf Pack returns to NCAA Tournament: In the mid-2000s, the Wolf Pack basketball team was a regular in the NCAA Tournament but four straight bids from 2004-07 was followed by nearly a decade-long drought, which coach Eric Musselman and his cast of talented players broke last season.