Rare Opportunity to See Future NBA Player This Week

In 1982 I saw a young player in the Baltimore Orioles organization play a minor league game against the Tidewater Tides. The next year a Double A star for the Mets came up and hit three home runs in the playoffs for the Tides. Thirty years later, I have fond memories of my early witness to the careers of Hall of Famer Cal Ripkin and MLB All-Star Daryl Strawberry. You can have the same experience Thursday night when the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks play host to Big Sky leading Weber State and their standout junior guard Damian Lillard. It will be a show. 

Lillard has been named one of 11 finalists for the 2012 Bob Cousy Collegiate Point Guard of the Year Award. Earlier this season Lillard was named to the final list of 20 players for the award.  Entering this week’s games, he continues to lead the nation in scoring, averaging 25.5 points per game.  He is also seventh in the nation in three-point field goals made per game and ninth in the country in free throw percentage.  Lillard is fourth in the Big Sky in assists and seventh in steals.  He has scored in double figures in all 20 games for the Wildcats this season and has scored 20 or more 15 times, including a career-high 41 points in a win over San Jose State in December.  Lillard is a finalist for the John Wooden Award.    

He is a future pro that the Big Sky Conference has not seen the likes of since Eastern Washington’s Rodney Stuckey (right) played in the league for two seasons. Stuckey scored 45 points in the Walkup Skydome against the Lumberjacks in 2006 and was named the conference player of the year that season as a freshman. He was selected after his sophomore year by Detroit Pistons in the first round (#15 overall) of 2007 NBA Draft.

Former Lumberjack Cameron Jones had NBA scouts come see him play last season but he did not draw the same attention Lillard has this season. At the NAU game in Ogden last month, San Antonio Spurs General Manager R.C. Buford was in attendance among a host of scouts.

On Thursday the New Jersey Nets, Cleveland Cavaliers, Houston Rockets and Atlanta Hawks will each have reps at the game at the Rolle Activity Center.

While I will always cheer and support the Lumberjacks as the Sports Information Director at NAU (and I hope you do too), I am looking forward to seeing Lillard play again in person this week and follow his career in the NBA.

The Lumberjacks held Lillard to just 18 points in the first matchup in Ogden and he got to the free throw line a season-low two times. But he has the ability to post big numbers in any game. He scored 40 against Portland State last week. 

What will he do this time? Either way, it will be memorable and you should come out to the game.

By Steve Shaff, NAU Media Relations Director