FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (October 29, 2021) – It's been quite the wait for
JJ Nakai's family to see the NAU senior play in Flagstaff as she did for four years at Coconino High School.
While Nakai transferred to Northern Arizona ahead of the 2020-21 season, she did so as crowds were kept home from games with the COVID-19 pandemic presenting a significant challenge as the season began. However, the pandemic plagued season did allow Nakai, who was granted a waiver to play immediately after arriving from Nevada more than a year ago, an extra season with the Lumberjacks.
Now she enters her final colligate season with a year of experience in NAU head coach
Loree Payne's system and will welcome her family and friends to catch her games in Flagstaff just as they did back in 2017 as she landed All-State honors to go along with three All-Region honors and a pair of Arizona Daily Sun Player of the Year awards during her time with the Panthers.
"They were like 'Okay, is there a way you can sneak us in' and I was like no! There's no way you can get in," Nakai said with a laugh. "I think it was just more of just annoying on their part because they like we're literally here almost every game and then couldn't come in."
Feeling so close, and yet still so far removed from Nakai's return to the local basketball scene, the senior's family did make the trek out to the Big Sky Conference Tournament in Boise, Idaho where a limited number of fans were allowed to be in attendance.
Nakai treated them with a 19-point performance against the Weber State Wildcats, hitting 5-of-10 from three-point range in the first round of the tournament.
While the frustration could be understood by anyone, especially after she spent three seasons away from Flagstaff between her time at Pima Community College and Nevada, the lighter side of the circumstances included a return to childhood for Nakai.
Living at home now that she was back in town, Nakai transported to some games with the assistance of her family. Rolling up to Rolle Activity Center, Nakai hopped out of the car and waved goodbye just like her youth basketball days.
"I didn't really have like a parking pass or anything, so they would be the ones dropping me off here before games," Nakai said. "It was like oh my god, this kind of reminds me of when I was in high school and it's just like when they dropped me off. I kind of just thought it was just a funny little flashback."
At times, Nakai's first season as a Lumberjack resembled her previous time playing in Flagstaff. The scoring prowess was consistently on display with 18 double-digit scoring games and the ninth most three-pointers made in a single season. At 13.6 points per game, leading the Lumberjacks, and 2.24 three-pointers made per contest, Nakai earned Big Sky Newcomer of the Year honors and landed All-Big Sky Honorable Mention honors.
While minutes were scarce the year prior in Reno, Nakai displayed the talent many knew she had as she graduated from Coconino and shined in Tucson as Pima Community College.
A NJCAA Division II First Team All-American for the Aztecs, Nakai won the ACCAC Player of the Year award twice while setting program records in points (1,397) and assists (442). While the path back to Flagstaff became a reality last season, there's still a few firsts for Nakai in her hometown.
With both of Northern Arizona's basketball teams spending their entire seasons in Rolle Activity Center last year, as the football season slid into the spring and occupied the Walkup Skydome, Nakai has still yet to play a game in the Lumberjacks' regular home.
"I've never been able to play there. All the events I went to when I was younger were in the Skydome, I would come to games and it was just kind of like it was always in the dome, Nakai said. "I'm personally just excited because I've never had the experience of it."
Once Nakai's Skydome debut is a reality, her hope is many more will pack the building as well. Games between Coconino and its crosstown Flagstaff High School packed both high school gyms as Nakai shined not too long ago. With the following still present as ever, simply take a look at the interactions with Nakai related posts on NAU Women's Basketball's social media, she hopes to see many familiar faces in the crowd this season.
"Even just me like going around town, I've had random people come up to me like 'Oh my god, you play at NAU now, we're coming to the game," Nakai said. "All my friends and family especially, they're always like 'Oh, are we going to be able to be able to go into the games now' and stuff like that, so I'm just excited because I think there's definitely going to be like a lot of people there at the games. A lot of my supporters that I have here in Flag and nearby us like in Phoenix and the Navajo Nation. So, I'm definitely excited."
There will be plenty of opportunities, with Northern Arizona hosting 15 of its 29 games during the regular season. After opening the home schedule against UNLV on Nov. 17, the Lumberjacks play six more games at home before the new year.
From their Big Sky Conference opener against Weber State on Dec. 2 through the Dec. 17 showdown with the NCAA runner-up Arizona Wildcats, Northern Arizona will play six straight in Flagstaff. Also among the early opportunities to see Nakai? Hosting in-state rival Grand Canyon on Dec. 9, as well as the defending Big Sky Conference Regular Season and Tournament champion Idaho State Bengals on Dec. 4.
Nakai's hope is everyone will also see an even more comfortable player, admitting her first season in Flagstaff was not without challenges at times. Missing both games against Idaho midway through the season and both meetings with Southern Utah to conclude the regular season, Nakai worked through a few periods of being less than 100 percent.
After somewhat of a lost season with the Wolfpack, the additional season with the Lumberjacks offers somewhat of a mulligan on her initial junior season. If you consider last year a do-over while working her way into a new program, Nakai's prospects for 2021-22 bode well as the Lumberjacks enter the year deeper than they were a year ago and hope to look a bit more balanced.
Playing 31.6 minutes per game last season, Nakai should be surrounded by multiple shooters to balance out Northern Arizona's offense. Just like Nakai's 38.9 percent from last season,
Nina Radford (40.8 percent) and
Regan Schenck (43.8 percent) also hold top-10 three-point percentage seasons while
Khiarica Rasheed returns in pursuit of the program's all-time scoring record and
Emily Rodabaugh set a program record by hitting six three-pointers without a miss against Montana.
Announcing her transfer from Nevada to Northern Arizona in April 2020, and then being prevented from a typical offseason leading into last fall, Nakai has now been allowed a much more normal run of preparation for this season.
"I was just going to have one year and I was definitely stressing about it, but I'm excited because I have a better grasp of the whole system, the coaches and I know everybody better," Nakai said. "It's just kind of like, it feels like I'm not so rushed if that makes sense."
