New Guys In Town

New Guys in Town

            The NAU men’s basketball team is 2-7 so far this season, and we’re starting to see the production of some players really start to rise.  At the beginning of the season, we didn’t know anything about half of this team.  Now with all the freshmen and transfers getting more and more playing time, we finally get to know who these guys are.

            Two transfers are in the top three on the team in scoring, and that’s junior Quinton Upshur who averages 14.8 points per game, and junior Aaseem Dixon is averaging 11.1 points per game.  Quinton averaged 13.2 points per game at Kilgore College, and Aaseem averaged 10.5 at Arizona Western.  So both of these players were able to come out of the junior college game and fit right into the system that Jack Murphy has created with the Lumberjacks.

            “Out of the newcomers Quinton Upshur has done a really good job, and Aaseem Dixon stepped right in and really helped lead our team from the point guard position,” said coach Jack Murphy about players who have stepped up this season.

            Other guys, like Max Jacobsen, also said that Quinton has really stepped up for this team.

“I think Que has been playing very well.  He’s definitely stepped up his game defensively, and he’s been a really good offensive factor for us.  We weren’t really sure who would step up this year and he’s really stepped up to the challenge,” Max said about his teammate.

Other players putting in good minutes are Christopher Miller, Kris Yanku, and Ako Kaluna, all freshmen in this new program.  Between the three of them, they are adding another 15 points per game to this offense.  All three of these guys have been very good secondary guys to go to in this Lumberjack offense.  Now with more games done and more playing time with one another, the chemistry will only get better.

“The chemistry is great.  A couple of things coach Murphy did during practice really brought us together, and we’re always communicating and enjoying each other’s company,”  Dixon said about the teams chemistry.  “We’re doing pretty good.  We’re coming together as a team, and each game we’re learning.

With all the road games this team has played the team will only gel more and more.  By the time this team hits conference play and the end of the season, everyone at Northern Arizona will know about this team and the players that wear the jersey’s on their backs.

Posted December 12, 2013 13:07

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It’s A New Year

Basketball season is right around the corner, and with the NAU men’s basketball team starting practices last weekend, we can start looking at key players for this team.

With the team losing four seniors, the Lumberjacks are looking for some young players and even some transfers to fill in the spots that will be missing in that starting unit.

One senior especially, Gabe Rogers, will be missed for his incredible shooting ability and being the leading scorer on this team.  The Jacks will be looking at sophomore DeWayne Russell to step in and become the go-to scorer for this NAU squad, which finished 11-21 overall and 8-12 in the Big Sky Conference last season.  Russell averaged 14.4 points per game last season, only second to Rogers.

This team is relatively young, with the lone senior being Max Jacobsen, who really started to shine toward the end of last season, averaging 9 points and 5 rebounds per game.  There are seven juniors, two sophomores, and six freshmen on this NAU roster, including all of the new transfers and recruits.

The Lumberjacks are in beginning stages of practices and displayed their talent before the Phoenix Suns scrimmage this past Saturday, participating in a 3-point contest, dunk contest and a skills challenge.

NAU begins its season on Oct. 30 when it hosts Arizona Christian for an exhibition game.  Then they begin regular season play on the road at University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) on Nov. 9.

This will be a great season for the basketball team, and coach Jack Murphy could have these guys back in the Big Sky tournament in no time.

Posted December 10, 2013 19:33

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