NAU senior point guard Josh Wilson is 168 assists away from becoming the Big Sky Conference's all-time leader.

David Sanders / arizona daily star 2007

Other articles by Keith Jiron:

NAU must begin anew with eight fresh facesPower of 10: NAU is hoping to build on last year's success NAU has share of lethal weapons

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FLAGSTAFF — The Northern Arizona men's basketball team has given its fans plenty to cheer about over the past three seasons.

In that span, the Lumberjacks have won 60 games — the biggest of which was perhaps last season's 64-61 upset of eventual Sweet 16 team Western Kentucky.

They also have won a Big Sky Conference regular-season title, a share of the league title and played in all three conference tournament championship games.

But the month of March has not been kind; NAU lost each of those Big Sky title games and was not invited to the NCAA tournament.

Senior point guard Josh Wilson is the only NAU player to play in all of those bitter losses. Even so, that has not dulled his enthusiasm toward fighting for one last shot.

"I've been so close all three years," Wilson said. "This is my last chance to go the NCAA tournament, (so) I've got a ton of energy going into (this season).

"I feel great about the talent we have on this team. It's just a matter of pulling it together."

The Lumberjacks lost several key players from last season's 21-11 squad. No loss was bigger — in stature and performance — than All-Big Sky first-team post player Kyle Landry, who averaged 17.5 points and 8.1 rebounds per game.

Nate Geiser (9.5 ppg), a three-point specialist who proved he could take over a game from beyond the arc, and standout shot-blocker Ryan McCurdy (6.6 ppg) also ran out of eligibility and are gone.

As tough as it will be to replace those players, longtime coach Mike Adras said he is optimistic.

Along with Wilson, who needs 168 assists to become the Big Sky's career leader, Adras has the services of a bevy of proven performers and a solid group of freshmen.

Joining Wilson (11.6 ppg) in the backcourt rotation will be seniors Matt Johnson (5.6 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 2.4 apg), Jermaine Bishop (1.7 rpg, 1.7 apg) and Jermaine Calvin, and sophomore Cameron Jones (3.9 ppg).

"I think we have five guys who were here a year ago that can mix and match between the one, two and three positions," Adras said.

Wilson said that while the returning guards will be just as dangerous on the offensive end as they were last season, there will be a spike in the group's overall defensive production.

"I think we're going to have an awesome defensive team this year," he said. "In years past, we haven't been that good of a defensive team, but I feel like it's going to be our strong point this year."

Adras also has a lot to smile about in terms of his frontcourt.

Zarko Comagic (6.5 ppg, 3.3 rpg) was inconsistent at times last season, but when the 6-foot-7-inch senior was on, he was hard to stop.

Junior Nick Larsen (6-8, 225) and sophomore Shane Johannsen (6-7, 220) return to Flagstaff older and wiser.

As happy as Adras is with his returning core, he said he is not too thrilled with his newcomers — at least not yet.

Aside from freshman center Josh Lepley (6-8, 210), Adras said the newcomers have a lot of work to do if they want to see any playing time.

"The one guy I'm seeing the most progress from is Josh Lepley. He seems to grasp the things we teach him," Adras said. "The perimeter guys just seem to make the same mistakes every single day.

"This is the time of year where I'd like to give those guys opportunities to see if they're going to be able to help us when it comes to Big Sky time, but you've got to earn your opportunities. They definitely have the ability, but we have to be able to get that ability out of them. That's our job as coaches."