TAKE FIVE: MIKE ADRAS

Saturday, Dec. 2, 2006 | 7:08 a.m.

What: Northern Arizona vs. UNLV

When: 3 p.m. today (4 p.m. MST).

Where: Burns Arena, Dixie State College, St. George, Utah

Tickets: $15-$30; www.unlvtickets.com

Before he would establish basketball coaching roots there 14 years ago, about the only thing native Las Vegan Mike Adras knew about Flagstaff, Ariz., is that it followed Gallup, N.M., in the bridge to "Route 66."

And as Nat King Cole sang, don't forget Winona.

But when it comes to college basketball, a lot of experts do forget that Northern Arizona University, which calls Flagstaff home, plays it pretty well. The Lumberjacks of the Big Sky Conference are one of those No. 15 seeds that the No. 2 seeds fear more than study hall come NCAA tourney time.

Just ask Cincinnati or St. John's, which eked out NCAA tournament victories over NAU. Or UCLA, which wasn't as fortunate in a regular-season game against Adras' team in 2002.

In 2003, the last time Adras brought the Lumberjacks to the Thomas & Mack Center, the Big Sky fell on UNLV. NAU won, 74-73.

This afternoon, NAU will try to get its kicks not on Route 66, but on a neutral court in St. George, Utah - the Rebels' home away from home during the National Finals Rodeo.

If I were the Rebels, I wouldn't forget Winona. Or to put a hand in the face of Adras' shooters.

1. Speak softly, carry a big ax

Despite scaring the baggy shorts off Cincinnati and St. John's on the national stage, the win over Steve Lavin and UCLA, and another at Arizona State this year that spoiled Herb Sendek's debut, Adras said the victory over Charlie Spoonhour's Rebels here three years ago was about as good as it gets for a guy who still bleeds Rebel red. "Out in the lobby area to my office, there's a picture of three of my guys celebrating hanging on the wall," Adras said. "All the other pictures are action shots."

2. Pair of 'Jacks

If you don't believe Northern Arizona has some basketball tradition, take a look at this week's poll. Both top-rated UCLA and No. 2 Pittsburgh are coached by guys who earned their pedigrees amid Flagstaff's tall pines. UCLA's Ben Howland, Pitt's Jamie Dixon and Adras coached on the same staff at NAU, and Adras says one day he wouldn't mind joining his former colleagues in college basketball's limelight. "I'd certainly like a crack at winning a national championship," he said.

3. Recruit to shoot

That was Northern Arizona's mantra during Howland's tenure and if anything, it has gotten more proficient shooting the basketball during Adras' watch. Last year, the Lumberjacks were the nation's only team to finish among the top 15 in field-goal percentage, 3-point field-goal percentage and free-throw percentage. In Adras' system, players have a green light to shoot just as soon as they pass the south rim of the Grand Canyon. "There's no question that helps us recruit," Adras said.

4. Off the rim

Speaking of the Grand Canyon, Adras said he has probably been there a grand total of five times in 14 years. He said if Paul Bunyan had a son who played power forward, he couldn't take him there during his recruiting visit, owing to the NCAA's 30-mile radius sightseeing rule. But he'd like to remind any 7-footers from Palm Springs that a hot summer day in Flagstaff is 80 degrees.

5. Gaels force

Although he won two state titles as a player at Bishop Gorman and two more as its head coach, Adras said most of his memories of Gorman were about the players he coached rather than the games he won. Two of the better ones were Matt Othick, who went on to star at Arizona and had a cup of NBA coffee, and the eccentric Brian Williams, who also played at Arizona and in the NBA as Bison Dele, before turning up missing (and presumably dead) in a mysterious boating accident off the coast of Tahiti. "He was (Dennis) Rodman before Rodman," Adras said.