Many head coaches have defined their team’s image; Mike Krzyzewski at Duke, John Wooden at UCLA, Vince Lombardi of the Green Bay Packers and Joe Paterno of Penn State, just to name a few. Granted, these coaches had plenty of star players under them. But as they say, the body can’t move without the head.

And for the NAU men’s basketball team, head coach Mike Adras is exactly that.

On April 8, NAU President John D. Haeger and NAU Athletic Director Jim Fallis announced Adras had accepted a three-year contract extension that would keep him on the Lumberjack sidelines through 2012. Adras has completed 17 seasons at NAU, the last 10 of which he has held the head coaching position he inherited from current UCLA head coach Ben Howland.

In his 10 seasons as head coach, Adras has 158 wins, second all-time at NAU and fifth all-time in Big Sky Conference history in career wins. His most notable regular season wins include upsets over UCLA (2002), UNLV (2003) and ASU (2006).

In addition to win totals, Adras has led the Lumberjacks to eight postseason appearances, including an NCAA Tournament berth in his first year as head coach, one NIT berth, and five Big Sky Conference championship game appearances.

Adras’ “recruit to shoot” mentality has defined the NAU men’s basketball team during his tenure. In the past four seasons, his team has ranked among the top 15 teams in Div. I in field goal percentage. The only team to do the same is the University of Florida. In the 2005-2006 season, NAU ranked in the top 15 in field goal percentage, 3-point percentage and free-throw percentage, the only Division I basketball team to do so.

Adras has also recruited and coached some of the best shooters in Division I basketball, such as Stephen Sir, who led the nation in 3-point shooting percentage in 2006; Kelly Golob, who was the top shooting freshman and sophomore in the country in his first two seasons; and Aaron Bond, who shot more than 50 percent from beyond the arch in 2002-2003.

Other noteworthy players who performed under Adras include Dan McClintock, Kyle Landry and Josh Wilson. McClintock, a 7-foot center who was a part of Adras’ first squad, was drafted by the Denver Nuggets in the second round of the 2000 NBA Draft. He was the first NAU player to be drafted to the NBA in more than 20 years. Landry, who averaged 17.5 points per game when he graduated in 2008, is playing professionally in Poland. Wilson achieved several milestones as a senior this season. He became the leader in assists in NAU history with 636 and is one of only three players in Big Sky history to record 600 assists and 1,000 points in their careers.

All in all, Adras has coached 14 players who have played professional basketball.

Keeping Adras on the NAU bench was the No. 1 goal for NAU athletics this offseason, and Fallis and Haeger came through for the program and for the fans. He has made the Lumberjacks men’s basketball team one of the most consistent and prolific teams in the school. Not only does he condition players for success in their basketball careers, but his willingness to encourage his squad to stay focused in school and put academics before athletics is what makes Adras a great coach, an excellent leader, and above all, the best choice for Northern Arizona.