Northern Arizona’s Shane Burcar opts to go big in the final year of his contract

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — Northern Arizona’s players cut, pass and shoot, chatter filling the thin air, the coaching staff shouting out instructions.

As they sprint through a spirited summer workout, one thing stands out: These Lumberjacks are big.

“It’s the longest and biggest team we’ve had,” Northern Arizona coach Shane Burcar said. “We’re got three or four legit big guys.”

Entering a pivotal eighth season at NAU, Burcar has opted to go big.

Burcar has shown he’s an excellent coach, a molder of young men, but he has one year left on his contract after a second one-year extension and a new athletic director in Richard Duran.

Duran has expressed support to Burcar and understands the difficult task of winning at a place like NAU, but, as with any coach in any job, there needs to be progress.

“I want our guys to win and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel the pressure a little bit,” Burcar said. “We do a great job in the community, we do a great job in the classroom and we want to do better on the court. That’s just the reality. It’s really important to win here and do it the right way.”

Northern Arizona had been on a solid trajectory, increasing its win total in four straight seasons. The Lumberjacks won 18 games in 2024-25 and played in the College Basketball Invitational, the program’s first postseason appearance in 10 years.

Expecting to build upon that success, Burcar instead watched the Lumberjacks stumble to 10-22 last season, including 4-14 in the Big Sky Conference.

Injuries were a big part of it.

Leading scorer Zack Davidson suffered a foot injury in practice after NAU’s second Big Sky Conference game and missed the final 17 games of the season. Big man Walker Timme, expected to play a big role after transferring, played eight minutes all season because of a back injury and several other players missed time.

“It wasn’t like we weren’t trying,” Burcar said. “We just didn’t have the firepower to overcome things.”

Burcar’s goal through recruiting and the transfer portal was to add size and depth in hopes of getting the program back on track.

NAU’s transfer class includes 7-foot Tamiel Green out of Indian River State College in Florida, 6-10 Cameroon center Nana Keutcha from Colby College in Maine and 6-10 forward Zach Tanner from Utah State Eastern.

Burcar’s biggest get was persuaded 7-footer Dylan Anderson to play in Flagstaff.

Anderson was a two-time Arizona Gatorade player of the year at Perry High School in Chandler and one of the state’s top recruits.

Anderson started his career at Arizona but played sparingly in 2022-23 and redshirted the following season before transferring to Boise State. He averaged 3.5 points in 10.2 minutes per game in Boise before transferring to Murray State, where he had a hard time cracking the lineup, averaging 7.0 minutes per game.

Burcar had recruited Anderson since his freshman year at Perry and finally landed him, adding a player with length, skill and 3-point shooting ability — not to mention a high-profile pedigree.

“I think the world of Dylan as a player,” Burcar said. “He’s played on some really good teams, so he didn’t get to use his whole talent, in my opinion. Dylan’s mindset is not like I’m doing NAU a favor. His mindset is I’m coming here to help NAU win a Big Sky championship.”

Anderson is a big add to a team that’s become substantially larger.

Burcar hopes it pay big dividends.

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AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball