Men’s Basketball Opens Practice Ahead of 2020-21 Season

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (October 16, 2020) – With the Big Sky Conference basketball schedules announced on Thursday, the pieces are slowly falling into place for the Northern Arizona basketball team. On Thursday, the Lumberjacks also took it one step further, as they hit the court for their first official practice of the 2020-21 season.
 
The team is making up for lost time with their summer workouts disrupted by the pandemic. Still, the energy was high Thursday in the Walkup Skydome, followed by Friday's session in the Rolle Activity Center.
 
"Our administration has done a great job of putting us in a position to get on the court as much as we can," said head coach Shane Burcar. "We couldn't be more pleased with the development of our players. To lose the preseason, the spring and the summer – it's a big loss, but with the COVID pandemic, we've done the best we can."
 
Following the Big Sky's announcement on Thursday, the Lumberjacks' conference opener versus Eastern Washington on Dec. 3 is just 48 days away; with a probable season opener on or near Nov. 25 pending the release of NAU's non-conference schedule a week earlier.
 
The Lumberjacks returns 10 players from last season's team that went 16-14 overall and 10-10 in conference play. Of the 10 returners though, only junior Cameron Shelton and redshirt juniors Luke Avdalovic and Nik Mains averaged more than 10 minutes per game, putting NAU in a position to incorporate a lot of players into its rotation with roughly six weeks before the season tips off.
 
"The newcomers are moving along nicely; they come from good programs so that always helps," Burcar said. "We're not as far along as we'd like to be. Looking at the notes from last year, we're not as far along but that's simply because of time."
 
Shelton and Avdalovic give the 'Jacks a solid foundation in the backcourt after combining to start 52 games last season. Shelton earned All-Big Sky Third Team honors after averaging 14.8 points, 6.2 rebounds and 4.4 assists, while Avdalovic averaged 8.9 points and shot 41.3 percent behind the arc.
 
While the Lumberjacks have veterans at the guard positions, their preseason practices will aim to establish a frontcourt that returns Mains, who averaged 4.7 points and started 14 games a season ago. Behind Mains though, NAU will work to replace two all-conference players in Brooks DeBisschop and Bernie Andre, who both graduated in the spring.
 
"I don't know if we're going to have to play some small ball, but I'll tell you one thing, Nik has really progressed," Burcar said. "Someone who is having a great camp right now, if you can call it a camp, is Wynton Brown. He's definitely going to play for us this year and Ajang Aguek has looked good too. I don't know if they are true 4 or 5 guys, but with our size, that's how we're going to have to play."
 
As the NAU men's basketball team gears up for the 2020-21 season, be sure to follow them on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.