FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (October 28, 2022) - It'll be a vastly different group on the court for the Northern Arizona men's basketball team in 2022-23, as 10 newcomers join a key group of returning Lumberjacks.
For Lumberjacks head coach
Shane Burcar, the blending of the incoming group that includes seven true freshmen with seven returners has gone as smoothly as he could hope.
"I don't know if you expect it that quick, but it happened in the summer," Burcar said. "We have seven guys who are returning and the 10 guys who have come in have been great. We have a nice breakup as far as classes are concerned to keep everybody understanding kind of where they are."
Following a 9-23 season, including a 5-15 record in the Big Sky and a near upset of the Eastern Washington Eagles in the opening round of the conference tournament, Burcar is looking to return the program to where it was prior to the pandemic. Now in his fourth season as the program's head coach, Burcar returns five of his six leaders in both minutes played and points scored. Most notably it will be guard
Jalen Cone's second season with the program, as the junior enters the year following an All-Big Sky Third Team honor for his debut as a Lumberjack. Averaging 18.8 points, 3.0 rebounds and 3.6 assists last season, Cone ranked 32nd in the NCAA with 93 three-pointers made which tied for fifth for a single season in school history.
Finishing the season third in points per game, fourth in three-point percentage, ninth in assists per game and ninth in field-goal percentage among the conference, Cone quickly proved to be one of the Big Sky's best.
Joining Cone as a lethal shooter from outside,
Nik Mains enters his final season with the Lumberjacks after yet another season at 40 percent from behind the three-point line.
Hitting 40.1 percent from outside, Mains made 75 three-pointers in the 2021-22 season while starting all 32 games for the Lumberjacks. Adding in a career high 5.1 rebounds per game with his 11.5 points, Mains made the leap to a more complete player last season while averaging the 10th-most minutes per game in the Big Sky.
Northern Arizona's third leading scorer from a year ago, junior
Keith Haymon, averaged 9.8 points per game while hitting 36.2 percent from outside himself. The trio of shooters compliment
Carson Towt, who averaged 8.4 points, 8.8 rebounds and an impressive 3.7 assists while also starting all 32 games inside the paint. Towt's rebounding average finished second in the Big Sky while his assists per game ranked seventh.
"He is a point forward. A lot of our actions are through him into the post and he's just a willing passer," Burcar said. "He doesn't care if he scores eight points or 20 points, his biggest deal is winning the game. And when you surround yourself with guys
Nik Mains,
Keith Haymon and
Jalen Cone... it makes it a tough decision with what they are going to do with us."
Likely candidates for significant playing time in their debuts for the Lumberjacks, South Dakota transfer
Xavier Fuller and Grand Canyon transfer
Liam Lloyd arrive in with past connections to Northern Arizona's coaching staff.
Fuller spent his high school career at Mesa under Burcar where he was an All-6A Conference East Valley Region First Team honoree as a senior before heading to Scottsdale Community College. An All-American during his sophomore season, Fuller averaged 22.7 points, 10.9 rebounds and 2.7 assists before joining the Coyotes for the past two years.
After spending two seasons in Phoenix with the Lopes, Lloyd moved north where he's been joined by first-year assistant coach
Gary Bell Jr. Bell, a three-year starter at Gonzaga from 2011 to 2015, who played under Liam's father Tommy Lloyd. Playing 172 minutes across 30 games, Lloyd averaged 23 points, six assists and six rebounds a game as a senior at Gonzaga Prep School.
"They are not new to college basketball and they are not new to us," Burcar said. "I would have recruited Liam out of high school hard, but he committed to GCU early and Xavier I have known since he was a little kid."
Northern Arizona also added
C.J. Ford from Texas,
Preston Kilbert from California,
Jack Wistrcill of Utah,
Ryan Abelman from Nevada, as well as in-state products
Oakland Fort, Will Coats and
Jason Parent. Additionally,
Trent McLaughlin returned to his home state after spending 31 games for Central Connecticut State last year. McLaughlin averaged 5.8 points and 2.7 rebounds in 21.1 minutes for the Blue Devils.
Northern Arizona will open the regular season with its first ever trip to East Lansing, Michigan for a game against the Michigan State Spartans on Monday, Nov. 7. After three games, the Lumberjacks will host Benedictine Mesa in Flagstaff on Tuesday, Nov. 15. Before officially opening the regular season, Northern Arizona will host SAGU American Indian College on Tuesday, Nov. 1 in Rolle Activity Center.
Â
