AJ Bramah dismissed from Nevada basketball team after four games

The messy start to the Nevada basketball season got even messier Tuesday morning when highly regarded transfer AJ Bramah was dismissed from the team.

The Robert Morris import was one of Nevada's biggest additions this offseason after averaging better than 20 points and 10 rebounds last season, but he lasted only four games in a Nevada uniform.

"Due to conduct detrimental to the team, AJ Bramah has been dismissed from the Nevada Men's Basketball program," the Wolf Pack said in a news release.

Bramah, a 6-foot-7, 210-pound forward, had a smashing debut for the Wolf Pack, tallying 17 points, nine rebounds and two assists on 8-of-9 shooting in Nevada's 91-76 win over Eastern Washington. He missed the Wolf Pack's next game after being placed in concussion protocols before returning for the last three games. Bramah was averaging 10.3 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game on 51.5 percent shooting.

Nevada has lost its last four games, two in lopsided fashion. The Wolf Pack dropped a 75-68 decision to San Diego as a 16-point favorite to start the skid. It then lost to Santa Clara 96-74, being out-scored by 25 points in the second half. Nevada lost a 16-point first-half lead in a 73-70 defeat to USF. And on Monday in the first game of a three-day tournament in Sioux Falls, S.D., the Wolf Pack was blitzed in a 102-75 loss. Bramah was dismissed less than 15 hours after the loss.

The Wolf Pack's four-game losing streak is the program's longest since 2014-15, the final season of the David Carter era. Nevada had skids of seven games and eight games that season.

Bramah, a fifth-year senior, averaged 21 points and 10.3 rebounds per game at Robert Morris last season before quitting the team 12 games into the campaign to enter the transfer portal. He cited the team's eight-game losing streak at the time of his departure. Bramah originally signed with Arizona State as a transfer in late March before leaving the program two months later. After committing to Nevada, Bramah occupied the roster spot vacated by Addison Patterson, a transfer from Oregon who never played for the team.

"Addison Patterson is no longer part of the Nevada men's basketball program," the Wolf Pack said in a news release in late May, although it did not elaborate beyond that.

Patterson and Bramah were the second and third high-profile transfers to leave Nevada prematurely during the Steve Alford era, joining Eric Parrish, who left Nevada without appearing in a game in advance of the 2019-20 season. Parrish had signed with Nevada under then-Wolf Pack coach Eric Musselman. Patterson and Bramah were both Alford signees.

Bramah was averaging 21.3 minutes per game for Nevada, and his playing time could be soaked up by K.J. Hymes, a returning forward/center for Nevada who has missed the team's first five games with an ankle injury. Hymes has practiced in recent days and could return to action soon. Nevada continues play at the Crossover Classic on Tuesday against George Mason before finishing the tournament Wednesday against Washington.

Nevada's 1-4 start is the program's worst through five games since 2010-11 when the Wolf Pack began 1-7 in Carter's second season as coach. Nevada was picked in the preseason Mountain West poll to finish third in the conference after returning all five starters from last season's 16-10 squad.