FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — Northern Arizona’s players attack each drill, each sprint with vigor, the sounds of squeaking shoes and shouts of encouragement filling the thin mountain air.
The final day of summer workouts, like the first or last day of fall camp, is filled with possibilities and enthusiasm.
The Lumberjacks are not alone in their fervor for the upcoming season — every team feels the same way before the ball officially goes in the air.
Unlike some programs with misplaced hope, Northern Arizona has a reason for optimism. With a healthy roster and nearly everyone back from last year’s team, the Lumberjacks are fully expecting a run at a Big Sky championship.
“We’ve got everything set,” NAU coach Shane Burcar said. “It’s about winning now.”
Wins have not always been easy to come by in Flagstaff.
The 2014-15 team won 23 games and went to the title game of the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament under previous coach Jack Murphy. NAU won 16 games in Burcar’s first season in 2019-20 and made a community-rallying run to the Big Sky tournament title game as a No. 9 seed two years ago.
The taste of late-season success boosted the Lumberjacks’ expectations last season.
Instead, injuries stuck a spoke in the wheels of momentum.
Carson Towt and Jack Wistrcill, expected to be anchors to NAU’s inside game, played one combined game. The Lumberjacks won seven Big Sky games, most since 2019-20, but missing two bigs was tough to overcome in a 12-23 season.
With both players healthy — and Towt bulked up — NAU has one of its biggest, most athletic teams in six seasons under Burcar.
“There’s a buzz here in Flagstaff and with our guys,” Burcar said. “It’s a true belief and not a pipe dream now.”
In an era of transfer portal-sparked roster turnover, Northern Arizona will be one of the rare teams that has nearly everyone coming back.
The Lumberjacks return five of their six top scorers from a year ago, the only subtraction guard Liam Lloyd, who moved to Tucson, where his father Tommy is the head coach at Arizona.
Guard Trent McLaughlin is back after a breakout junior season that saw him average a team-best 16.6 points and earn first-team all-Big Sky honors. So is Carson Basham, a 6-foot-10 forward who gained valuable experience with Towt and Wistrcill out, averaging 12.4 points and 6.7 points per game.
NAU also returns 6-4 guard Jayden Jackson, a natural leader who scored 10.2 points per game, heady point guard Oakland Fort and sharpshooting guard Diego Campisano.
Burcar used the portal to fill out his roster, adding California transfer swingman Monty Bowser and Dillan Baker, a third-team All-American at Pima Community College last year.
With most of the top Big Sky players graduated or playing somewhere else, the Lumberjacks will start the season with a leg up on the rest of the conference.
“One thing that we have is when they’re a year old, it helps,” Burcar said. “Our player development is really good — you see our stats getting better every year. The guys get along really well and are experienced.”
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