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LOCATION: Flagstaff, AZ
CONFERENCE: Big Sky
LAST SEASON: 21-8
CONFERENCE RECORD: 12-4 (2nd)
STARTERS LOST/RETURNING: 3/2
NICKNAME: Lumberjacks
COLORS: Blue & Gold
HOMECOURT: J.L. Walkup Skydome (7,000)
COACH: Mike Adras (UC Santa Barbara '83)
record at school First year
career record First year
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ASSISTANTS: Chris Carlson (UC Santa Barbara '93)
Dennis Cutts (SUNY-Albany '90)
Eugene Casaus (Northern Arizona '94)
TEAM WINS: (last 5 years) 8-6-21-21-21
RPI (last 5 years) 224-293-107-126-123
1998-99 FINISH: Lost in conference final.
ESPN.com Clubhouse
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Northern Arizona has a new coach, but its credo remains intact. "We recruit to shoot; that's our slogan," said first-year coach Mike Adras, an NAU assistant for seven years before taking over for Ben Howland. Howland took the head coaching job at Pittsburgh after three straight 20-victory seasons in Flagstaff. Over the last three years, the NAU staff has assembled a gang that can shoot straight . The Lumberjacks have been the top three-point shooting team in the nation over that span and led the country in field-goal percentage (.523) last season. "There'll be some changes, but you won't see dramatic changes," Adras said. "I'm not looking to fix something that ain't broke. We've kind of found our niche. Hopefully we'll shoot the ball as well as we have in years past. "We're still going to take good shots and run a very similar type of motion offense. In fact, a lot of the set plays will be identical." Defensively, opponents might see a little more zone than when Howland was in charge.
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Blue Ribbon Analysis |
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BACKCOURT B+ BENCH/DEPTH B
FRONTCOURT A INTANGIBLES B
NAU might have a new look this season, but the Lumberjacks still have a lot of guys who have been through the wars. Dan McClintock could emerge as a star if he stays out of foul trouble. If Ross Land and Billy Hix merely reprise their performances of a year ago, the Jacks still have a good chance of playing for the league title for the third straight year. Losing Rod Hutchings hurts, however. Although the Lumberjacks average only 2,500 fans per home game, they are 39-4 at home over the last three seasons in a league where defending your home court means everything. And with their shooters, they always stand a puncher's chance on the road. If Weber State stumbles at all, NAU could be right there come tournament time. |
"Ben was very adamant about playing man-to-man 100 percent of the game," Adras said. "I'm not going to be afraid to change it up a little bit and play some zone or a half-court trap." Although the Lumberjacks lost three starters point guard Kawika Akina, center Casey Frank and guard Michael McNair from the team that lost to Weber State in the league tournament championship game, they still have a wealth of experience. Last year's leading scorer, 6-5 senior guard Ross Land (13.7 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 64 assists), gives Adras a go-to shooter. Land ranked second in the nation in three-point shooting last year (83 of 163, .509 percent) and needs just 48 three-pointers to become the league's career leader. Land had three games last season in which he made six three-point shots. "Ross is one of the premier players in the league," Adras said of Land, who has started 86 straight games over three years. "He's not going to step out there and see things he hasn't seen before." Matt Gebhardt (1.8 ppg, 0.7 rpg, .333 3 PT), a 6-4 sophomore, will battle for the starting job at the other wing along with Cory Schwab, a 6-5 junior transfer from Tacoma (Wash.) Community College, and Commander King, a 6-3 junior transfer from Irvine Valley (Calif.) Junior College. "King is a combination player who can play the one or two," Adras said. "He brings some athleticism that we will definitely need. He'll get some minutes." Senior Rod Hutchings, who started 15 games at the point over his first two seasons at NAU before Akina's arrival, was suspended for the season for an undisclosed violation of team rules.. The diminutive (5-7) Hutchings (7.4 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 62 assists, 20 steals) was the team's second-leading shooter from behind the arc, making 48 of 104 (.462) shots.In his place, 6-foot sophomore Adam Lopez, a transfer from Kansas State who had to sit out last year and then tore an ACL during practice in February, will be called on. Replacing Frank in the middle will be 7-foot senior Dan McClintock (11.4 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 42 blocked shots), who was chosen the MVP of the conference tournament two years ago when the Lumberjacks went to the NCAA Tournament. McClintock led the league in field-goal percentage (.668) last season and has averaged more than 10 points per game in his three-year career. "It was just one of those things where we never felt (Frank) deserved to go to the bench," Adras said in explaining why McClintock's time has been limited in his first three seasons. "He's really hard to stop. He's so much stronger and quicker." Playing behind McClintock will be 6-8 senior Andrew Wolthers (3.4 ppg, 2.7 rpg) and 6-9 sophomore transfer Casey Grundman, who came to NAU from St. Mary's. Three-year starter Billy Hix (7.4 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 49 assists, .472 3 PT) will return to anchor the power-forward position. The 6-7, 230-pound Hix has started all but two games in his career. "He's the hidden MVP of Northern Arizona basketball," Adras said of Hix. "When he's in the game, good things happen. He's the guy who sets the screen to get Ross Land open. ... He defends the toughest guy on the other team." Adras said Hix will have someone to push him in practice for the first time in 6-7 freshman Ryan McDade from Enumclaw, Wash. "I'd like to say he's a Hix clone; he's definitely of the same mold," Adras said. The 63 victories NAU has put up over the last three years are five more than the school won over the previous eight years combined. Expectations have risen. "The pressure doesn't bother me," Adras said. "I expect to play well and win ballgames. There's going to be pressure. Nobody wants to see it slip. We're at a point where night in and night out we can compete with the best teams."
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