FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – Shane Burcar sits in the front row of the large auditorium as a thunderstorm rolls over Flagstaff’s San Francisco Peaks onto the Northern Arizona campus.
The wall of windows on the room’s north side offers a perfect view of the lightning strikes and approaching rain moving through the pine trees.
The building the auditorium is in, the new $47 million Student-Athlete High Performance Center, gives Burcar something he’s never had in four years as Northern Arizona’s coach: a top-of-the-line facility to show prospective basketball recruits.
“It really is a game-changer,” Burcar said. “When we’re competing with a (similar) school, nobody has a better facility than us. I don’t say that to brag or say anything negative about another school, but there’s nobody who has this right now.”
The performance center, which opened in April, could be the missing piece Burcar needs to get NAU back on the right track. The Lumberjacks have not been to the NCAA Tournament since 2000 and notched single-digit wins five of the past seven seasons.
Burcar was named interim coach in 2019, when Jack Murphy left to coach at his alma mater, Arizona. The Lumberjacks won 16 games in Burcar’s first season, earning him the permanent job, but have been unable to keep up that pace.
Northern Arizona labored through a pandemic-altered 2020-21 season – as did many other programs – to win six games and went 9-16 last year with one of Division I’s youngest teams.
The Lumberjacks could be poised to round the corner toward a better future.
This year’s team returns all five starters, bringing a year of experience with them.
Junior guard Jalen Cone averaged 18.8 points last season after transferring from Virginia Tech and is expected to take on more of a leadership role. Nik Mains, a 6-foot-8 stretch forward, opted to return instead of hitting the transfer portal after averaging 11.5 points last year. Junior forward Keith Haymon also is back for his fourth season in Flagstaff after averaging 9.8 points a year ago.
Burcar dipped into the transfer portal to land South Dakota guard Xavier Fuller, Grand Canyon guard Liam Lloyd – Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd’s son – and Central Connecticut State guard Trenton McLaughlin.
Northern Arizona also added freshmen C.J. Ford, Oakland Fort, Preston Kilbert and Jack Wistrcill, all of whom should have an impact on the program this season and beyond.
“The trajectory is absolutely to move up the…
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