Columnist Ron Kantowski: NAU’s Adras masterminds a shocker

Friday, Dec. 20, 2002 | 10:25 a.m.

Ron Kantowski's insider notes column appears Tuesday and his Page One column appears Thursday. He can be reached at ron@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4088.

The Big Sky fell on the Pac-10 this week.

In what had to be the biggest news to hit Big Sky Country since Mark Fuhrman of the LAPD ran away to his own private Idaho, Montana beat No. 17 Stanford 70-68 at Maples Pavilion Monday night followed 48 hours later by Northern Arizona's equally stunning 67-63 victory over UCLA at Pauley Pavilion.

All I know is I wouldn't want to be playing Eastern Washington in a pavilion this weekend.

The architect of NAU's shocking victory should be very familiar to local basketball fans. Lumberjacks coach Mike Adras starred for and later coached Bishop Gorman to two state championships on his way to Flagstaff.

Contacted in his office at Walkup Skydome Thursday morning, Adras was still floating near the tops of the pine trees that surround the picturesque NAU campus.

"It was a significant win. You talk about the two (conference championships that vaulted NAU into the NCAA Tournament) but one of those was at home and one (on a neutral court). Nobody just walks into UCLA and wins," Adras said.

In most years, that is. This was the Bruins' second stunning home loss this year, UCLA having been beaten by San Diego earlier this year. Still, that did little to dampen Adras' enthusiasm for what his team accomplished.

Because when it comes to basketball pedigrees, UCLA is still considered among the Best in Show. NAU, on the other hand, is just one of those mid-major mutts constantly in search of a few table scraps of recognition.

The Lumberjacks (6-2) may not have to sit up and beg for very much longer. They made the most of those two NCAA bids Adras spoke of, nearly knocking off Cincinnati and St. John's in a couple more of those No. 2 seed vs. No. 15 first-round eyebrow raisers. And now this.

Adras' team -- picked as low as last place in the Big Sky -- showed that Gonzaga may not be the only tiny Far West school beyond Dick Vitale's radar that can hoop it up.

"There were about 50 people that greeted us at the airport and that's never happened," Adras said. "But the funny thing is our kids said 'Why all the hoopla?' They expected to win.

"Usually, the coach is (low key) and the players are the ones that are excited."

NAU was a 21-point underdog at UCLA but trailed by only six at halftime, then took charge of the game in the second half by raining 3-pointers -- the Lumberjacks' specialty -- all over Jason Kapono and the Bruins.

In Flag, Adras and predecessor Ben Howland (now a rising star at Pitt) call it "Recruit to Shoot." At NAU there's no such thing as a bad shot, provided it originates beyond the 3-point arc.

"We heard some of the talk radio, and they were saying 'the Bruins didn't do this' or 'the Bruins didn't do that,' " Adras said. "But we did it the same way we always do it -- by controlling the game. We beat them by making 11 3-pointers versus it being a game they gave to us."

The big win isn't going to help NAU's NCAA Tournament chances one iota. The Lumberjacks will still need to win the Big Sky tourney to make it back to the Big Dance in March, but Adras said that's OK.

His program now has the respect of Steve Lavin, Mike Jarvis and Bob Huggins. In December, that's good enough.