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M ike Proctor called for the huddle loudly then expressed his message forcefully: slow down, play with confidence.

At the time of the impromptu tongue lashing near the free-throw line, Proctor’s team, the Northern Colorado Bears, led Chadron State 50-30 early in the second half of an exhibition game. Although the outcome was neither in doubt nor important, Proctor felt the urge to stop any potential bad habits from forming.

As the team’s lone senior, Proctor knows he must be the one to set the example. He must be the one to make the statements. He must be the one to lead.

And it’s a role he wants. “I got to be,” said Proctor, a 6-foot-8, 225-pound forward/center

from Phoenix. “The title of a senior, that’s just what it is. No matter what, it’s: senior.

“If you’re going to be a leader, you’ve got say, ‘Let’s go, let’s go, bring it in,’ but then you have do it the right way yourself. If coach says, ‘Let’s back it up and defend,’ then that’s what you do. You got to lead by example.”

His leadership could be key for the Bears who have 13 freshmen or sophomores on their roster. Junior guard Elliott Lloyd is the lone returning starter from the team that won the Big Sky Conference regular season and tournament titles.

Coach B.J. Hill has watched Proctor’s growth mentally on and off the court.

At the start of the school year, Hill recalled Proctor serving as en-courager during workouts, offering positive motivation, but as the year progressed and the season neared, Hill watched Proctor’s de-meanor and message change. He began holding his teammates ac-countable, urging for perfection.

“That’s big time,” Hill said. “When you can get that from your lead-ers, that’s special. For him to make that transformation is big for us.”

Hill also has noticed Proctor developing a shorter memory when it comes to his play. In the past, Hill said, Proctor would come down too hard on himself for mistakes or bad plays.

Now he’s able to step away and move on to the next play. Hill sug-gested this process began when Proctor sat out for five games last December with a broken thumb.

Last season Proctor averaged 5.4 points and 5.6 rebounds, but he was at his best late in the season, earning a spot on the Big Sky All-Tournament team. Proctor finished the season with at least eight points or eight rebounds in eight of the final 11 games.

Producing big numbers is something Proctor would like to do on a regular basis this season, specifically, aiming for a 10-rebound-per-game average.

Redshirt freshman guard Tevin Svihovec said Proctor’s presence and impact on the Bears is inescapable.

“He’s definitely not shy,” Svihovec said. “He’ll say what he wants and get you going. He’s a big energy for us, which we definitely need with all the younger kids being a little more quiet, not as vocal. In his leadership role, that I think is the biggest part for him. He brings that energy, that juice that gets everyone going.”

Most of Proctor’s “rants and ravings” often get directed at upper-classmen, though.

“If we can’t get the upperclassmen to do it right, then the low-erclassmen, the freshmen and sophomores, they’ll start seeing, they’ll start recognizing it,” Proctor said. “It will just make our team an overall better program.”

A preseason All-Big Sky third team pick by 2011 CollegeSports-Madness.com, Proctor’s lead-by-example mentality could result in a more well-rounded offensive game. He spent the offseason working with Hill and former Bears star Mike Higgins to refine his jump shot.

Showing the early impacts of the work, Proctor made 6-of-7 from the foul line against Chadron State and 4-of-7 overall.

As much as Proctor cherishes last year’s run to the Big Sky titles and NCAA Tournament, he eyes a repeat in his final year in Greeley.

“My expectations are not lower than last year,” he said. “We have more to prove this year than we did last year. I want to get one my senior year because I don’t have anything else to do, and I don’t want to have to live under (last year’s seniors’) legacy, I guess.”

“He’s definitely not shy. He’ll say what he wants and get you going. He’s a big energy for us, which we definitely need with all the

younger kids. He brings that energy,

that juice, that gets everyone going.”

Head CoaCH: B.J. HILL assistants: SHAWN ELLIS, RYAN MARTIN, LoGAN BEAN 0-0NORTHERN COLORADO BEARS BIG SKY CoNFERENCE

Points ReBoUnds FoULsXzaivier James, 5-11, 175, so, GGreeley, Colo. (Greeley Central HS)1Paul Garnica, 6-0, 160, so, GSan Antonio, Texas (Robert E. Lee HS)3tevin svihovec, 6-2, 190, Rs-Fr, GKingwood, Texas (Kingwood HS)5odessa Lear, 6-4, 160, Fr, FDenver, Colo. (George Washington HS)10elliott Lloyd, 6-1, 170, Rs-Jr, GHouston, Texas (Klein Forest HS)11aaron Hawk-Harris, 6-4, 205, Jr, G/FLos Angeles, Calif. (Palisades HS / College of Eastern Utah)13tate Unruh, 6-4, 175, Rs-so, GBranson, Mo. (Branson HS)15Brendan Keane, 6-9, 235, Fr, Foakland, Calif. (St. Joseph’s Notre Dame HS)21tim Huskisson, 6-5, 190, Fr, FWillard, Mo. (Willard HS)22emmanuel addo, 6-7, 220, Rs-so, F/CToronto, ontario (Northfield (Minn.) HS)24Bryce douvier, 6-6, 215, Fr, FSedgwick, Kan. (Sedgwick HS)25James davis Jr., 6-1, 170, Fr, GSan Lorenzo, Calif. (Arroyo HS)30dylan elias, 6-1, 175, Fr, GSan Angelo, Texas (William H. Taft HS)32Kendall Godley, 6-4, 185, Fr, GColorado Springs, Colo. (Falcon HS)33Connor osborne, 6-9, 270, Rs-so, CLittleton, Colo. (Columbine HS)34Mike Proctor, 6-8, 225, sr, F/CPhoenix, Ariz. (Desert Vista HS)41

Head CoaCH: MARVIN MENzIES assistants: PAUL WEIR, KEITH BRoWN, ToNY DELK 0-0NEW MEXICO STATE AGGIES WESTERN ATHLETIC CoNFERENCE

Points ReBoUnds FoULsChristian Kabongo, 6-4, 200, so, GToronto, ontario (Central Commerce HS)1sim Bhullar, 7-5, 360, Fr, CToronto, ontario (Huntington Prep)2Remi Barry, 6-7, 210, Fr, FParis, France (Del oro HS)3d.J. Lewis, 6-0, 170, Fr, GNew orleans, La. (New Horizon Prep)5Bandja sy, 6-8, 215, Jr, FCergy, France (Stoneridge Prep)10eric Weary, 6-5, 210, Fr, GNew orleans, La. (Warren Easton HS)11K.C. Ross-Miller, 6-1, 175, so, GGrand Prairie, Texas (University of New orleans)12Hernst Laroche, 6-1, 170, sr, GMontreal, Quebec (Vanier College)13terrel de Rouen, 6-1, 165, Fr, GLas Cruces, N.M. (onate HS)14tshilidzi nephawe, 610, 270, so, CJohannesburg, South Africa (Stoneridge Prep)15daniel Mullings, 6-2, 170, Fr, GToronto, ontario (Laurier)23Renaldo dixon, 6-10, 210, so, FToronto, ontario (Christian Faith Academy)25Wendell McKines, 6-6, 230, sr, Foakland, Calif. (Richmond HS)31Hamidu Rahman, 6-11, 245, sr, CSomerset, N.J. (American Christian HS)32B.J. West, 6-11, 240, Jr, FCheneyville, La. (Rapides HS)35tyrone Watson, 6-5, 210, Fr, FHamilton, ontario (Hamilton Cathedral HS)45

A fter serving as Northern Colorado’s associate head men’s basketball coach during the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons and as a top Bears assistant for the two

years before that, Northern Colorado’s men’s basketball history was for-ever changed on April 19, 2010, with the hiring of head coach B.J. Hill.

In his first year on the job, all Hill did was lead Northern Colorado to its first Big Sky Conference regular-season and postseason titles and its first appearance in NCAA Tournament.

The Bears drew a No. 15 seed in the 2011 March Madness and faced second-seeded San Diego State in the tournament’s second round at his-toric McKale Center in Tucson, Ariz.

Northern Colorado hung with the powerful Aztecs deep into the second half before falling 68-50. That team was led by Big Sky Conference MVP Devon Beitzel.

Hill was honored as the 2011 Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year and landed on numerous national coaching postseason award lists. His 21-11 mark in his first year at the helm was the most first-year wins of any of the previous 17 Northern Colorado head basketball coaches.

In Hill’s four years as a Bears assistant, Northern Colorado men’s bas-ketball improved from a team that finished dead last in 2007 in the final NCAA RPI report to a team in 2010 that won 25 games (25-8) and set the school record for most victories in a single season.

Northern Colorado qualified for its first NCAA Division I postseason berth in 2009 (Big Sky Conference Tournament quarterfinals) before ad-vancing in 2010 to the Big Sky Conference semifinals and then making an appearance in the quarterfinals of the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT).

In Hill, who came to the Bears after a successful assistant coaching ca-

reer at various stops in South Dakota, Kansas and Iowa, Northern Colo-rado secured a tireless recruiter, a passionate basketball man and a great ambassador for the University of Northern Colorado community.

With Hill’s promotion, Northern Colorado Athletics affirmed its com-mittment to building a successful, top-notch NCAA Division I basketball program and matched the level of commitment the University gives to academics and carrying on a tradition of winning on the court and in the classroom.

“This is an unbelievable opportunity,” Hill said. “I want to thank Jay Hin-richs, President [Kay] Norton and everybody involved who believe in me.”

Prior to coming to Greeley, Hill worked as an assistant at Indian Hills Community College in ottumwa, Iowa, where he worked alongside coach Jeff Kidder and coached former Bears standouts Jabril Banks and Robert Palacios.

Hill helped the Warriors to a 25-6 overall record and second-place finish in the Iowa Conference in 2006. Indian Hills was ranked as high as No. 3 nationally during the season.

Before his time at Indian Hills, Hill coached five seasons at Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College, working with head coach Jay Herkelman. In Hill’s tenure, the Red Ravens won five consecutive conference titles and three straight region championships and had a combined record of 146-33 and advanced to the 2002 NJCAA National Championship game.

Hill spent the 1999-2000 season at South Dakota State University, where he helped the Jackrabbits to the NCAA Division II national tourna-ment and a 21-9 overall record. SDSU finished second place in its confer-ence that season.

Hill’s coaching trek started in 1997 as an assistant at North Iowa Area Community College in Mason City, Iowa, where he was a standout player in the early 90s.

A native of Cedar Falls, Iowa, Hill played basketball at NIACC and at Grand View College in Des Moines, Iowa, where he received his bachelor’s degree in 1996 in business administration. He earned his master’s degree in business administration from South Dakota State in 2001.

Hill and his wife Eliza have a son, Nathan, and a daughter, Alana.

B.J. Hill’s collegiate coacHing resumeYeaR PRoGRaM ReCoRd notes1997-98 North Iowa Area Community College (AC) 17-15 (.531) 1998-99 Independence Community College (AC) 22-10 (.688) Finished second in Jayhawk East Conference 1999-00 South Dakota State (AC) 21-9 (.700) NCAA Division II Tournament; defeated Northern Colorado 99-76 2000-01 Coffeyville Community College (AC) 24-8 (.750) 2001-02 Coffeyville Community College (AC) 36-2 (.947) National runner-up NJCAA title game; NJCAA Region VI championship 2002-03 Coffeyville Community College (AC) 29-9 (.763) NJCAA Region VI championship 2003-04 Coffeyville Community College (AC) 31-7 (.816) NJCAA Region VI championship 2004-05 Coffeyville Community College (AC) 26-7 (.788) 2005-06 Indian Hills Community College (AC) 25-6 (.806) 11-win improvement from year before; coached Jabril Banks, Robert Palacios 2006-07 Northern Colorado (AC) 4-24 (.143) Bears' first year in Big Sky Conference 2007-08 Northern Colorado (AC) 13-16 (.448) Defeated San Diego State (Top-50 RPI) 2008-09 Northern Colorado (AHC) 14-18 (.438) Qualified for first Big Sky Conference Men's Basketball Championship 2009-10 Northern Colorado (AHC) 25-8 (.758) NC wins most men's basketball games in school history 2010-11 Northern Colorado (HC) 21-11 (.806) NC wins Big Sky regular-season, championship titles; First appearance in NCAA Tournament

S hawn Ellis begins his sixth season with Northern Colorado basketball in 2011 and serves as head coach B.J. Hill’s right-hand man as the longest-tenured as-sistant coach on the Bears’ coaching staff.

Ellis came to Greeley and Northern Colorado in 2006 (with Hill) after helping build a powerhouse Cloud County Community College program in Concordia, Kan., and following a standout playing career at Kansas Wesleyan in Salina, Kan.

“Coach Ellis has known me longer than my wife has,” Hill says. “He’s an energetic guy who relates well to players, and I’m grateful he decided to continue on with what we’re trying to build here at Northern Colorado.”

Ellis served on the staff of head coach Kevin Muff at Cloud County, and in his six years there the Thunderbirds compiled a record of 109-79, including a mark of 24-9 in 2005-06. Cloud County shared the Western Division title in 2006 in the Jayhawk Conference and lost in the semifinals of the Region VI Tournament.

Prior to working at Cloud County, Ellis spent two years as an assistant at NAIA Kansas Wesleyan, his alma mater. During his time in central Kansas he helped the Coyotes in 2000 win their first conference championship in 16 years and the program’s first-ever NSCAA National Championship.

As a player, Ellis was a four-year starter for the Coyotes, earning NSCAA All-American honors and three All-Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference selections. He was named to the NSCAA All-Tournament team in 1997 and holds Kansas Wesleyan’s school record for most games played.

Ellis, a native of Mooresville, Ind., earned his bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Kansas Wesleyan in 1998, and is married to the former Nikki Johnson. They live in Greeley.

R yan Martin came to the Bears in May 2010 after various assistant-coaching positions in the Midwest, including at UMKC, Cofffeyville (Kan.) Community College and Wichita State. As a player, he was one of the nation’s best junior-college prospects (JUCo All-

American) at Coffeyville -- where he played for B.J. Hill -- and later was a standout at Wichita State, where he was a key member of the Shockers’ 2006 NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 team.

Martin joined the UMKC Kangaroos in August 2008 after spending the 2007-08 season as an assistant coach at Coffeyville, where helped lead the Ravens to a 24-9 overall record while assisting in team prac-tices and game-day coaching responsibilities. His coaching career began as soon as his playing career ended with the Shockers, as he served as an intern at WSU in 2007 before coaching at Hoops Mountain Central in Wichita, where he worked closely with post players, with eight going on to play collegiate basketball.

In summer 2008, Martin coached the KC Pump-n-Run AAU team, which has placed numerous play-ers on top-tier collegiate programs, including Brady Morningstar (Kansas), Travis Releford (Kansas), Michael Dixon (Missouri) and Dominique Morrison (oral Roberts).

“Ryan’s is kind of a unique situation,” Hill says, “because I recruited and coached him, so he obviously knows me. But the thing that excites me about him is his work ethic, his energy and his tremendous personality. He’s a tremendous asset to our program, representing us in the community and on the recruiting trail.”

Martin, who was named to the 2006 MVC All-Bench Team, appeared in 66 games for WSU and aver-aged seven points and five rebounds. He graduated from Wichita State in 2007 with a bachelor’s degree in sports administration. He finished his undergraduate career with a 3.25 cumulative GPA.

L ogan Bean was promoted to Assistant Men’s Basketball Coach at Northern Colorado in June 2011.

Bean spent the previous season as the Bears’ Director of Basketball operations, help-ing Northern Colorado to the Big Sky regular-season and postseason championships as well as an apperance in the NCAA Tournament.

Bean joined the Bears in August 2010 after spending the previous two seasons as a graduate as-sistant for coach Buzz Williams and the Marquette Golden Eagles. Prior to that, Bean spent five years as a student manager for the University of Nebraska men’s basketball program, serving the final two years as head manager for current Huskers coach Doc Sadler.

In all, Bean has been to six NCAA Division I postseasons in eight years. Nebraska qualified for the NIT three times in his five seasons in Lincoln, Marquette advanced to the NCAA Tournament twice.

Bean has worked with and coached 11 professional basketball players, including NBA First Round draft picks Jimmy Butler (Chicago Bulls) and Lazar Hayward (Minnesota Timberwolves) and NBA player Wes Matthews (Portland Trailblazers). Bean has also worked directly with eight players who currently play professionally overseas.

“I’m excited to add a guy like Logan, who’s been at two higher-level programs in Nebraska and Marquette that are run by guys who are really respected in college basketball,” Northern Colorado coach B.J. Hill said. “Logan’s incredibly hungry to exceed in this business, and he’s going to be a great asset for Northern Colorado Basketball.”

Bean, from Eustis, Nebraska, was an all-state basketball player at Eustis-Farnam High. He gradu-ated from Nebraska in 2008 with a bachelor’s in communications studies and a minor in sociology.

Adam Gordon was hired as Northern Colorado’s director of basketball op-

erations in July 2011 after spending three sea-sons at Clemson.

The Tigers advanced to the NCAA Tournament in each of Gordon’s three seasons with the program, and he proved vital to the staff in 2010-11, when Clemson compiled a 22-12 record and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.

Before Clemson, Gordon was an assistant coach at Central Florida Community College, from 2006-08, prior to that, he was head manager and student assistant coach at Tampa from 2002-06.

Gordon has also served as a counselor at many high-profile summer basketball camps, includ-ing with UCLA, the Phoenix Suns and the Sac-ramento Kings, as well as at camps run by NBA stars Jason Kidd and Amar’e Stoudemire.

Anthony Urrutia joined Northern Colo-rado Basketball as a team manager

prior to the Bears’ conference-championship run in the 2010-11 season, and he was promoted to graduate assistant in summer 2011.

Urrutia came to Northern Colorado after spend-ing some time as a player at Scottsdale (Ariz.) Community College, where he was team captain, and at Colorado Christian in Denver.

Before that, Urrutia lettered three times in bas-ketball at Monarch (Colo.) High and was honored as an all-conference and All-Boulder County player.

Urrutia, from Lafayette, Colo., earned his com-munication degree in 2011 from Northern Colo-rado with a minor in sociology.

Zach Margolis joined the University of Northern Colorado S ports Perfor-

mance staff in August 2011. He assists director Joe Schaffer in improving the strength and con-ditioning of all student-athletes, but he works directly with men’s and women’s basketball.

Margolis joined the Bears after spending two seasons as a graduate assistant coach at the Uni-versity of Texas. He worked with the Longhorns’

football and volleyball teams and both advanced to NCAA championship games in his tenure.

Prior to Texas, Margolis spent two seasons on staff at Northern Arizona, his alma mater.

While a student at NAU, Margolis was a prac-tice player for the ‘Jacks’ women’s basketball team and was an undergraduate assistant in the strength and conditioning center.

I n six years as Northern Colorado’s Athletics Direc-tor, Jay Hinrichs has reshaped the Bears’ historic and tradition-rich profile and advanced the De-

partment of Intercollegiate Athletics into NCAA Division I membership for all 19 sport programs and athletic-support departments, while instilling a Championship Culture inside Butler-Hancock Athletic Center.

Hinrichs was appointed August 23, 2004, and since his hiring he has directed the NCAA Division I reclassification and certification process for all Northern Colorado’s sport programs, added men’s cross country and indoor track and field for men and women, and secured membership in the prestigious Big Sky Conference and five other conference affiliations.

He has also led two facility renovation and expansion projects totaling $31 million, including a student-fee funded $16 million facility expansion and renovation project (2005) and an all-new Butler-Hancock Athletic Center, turning the Home of the Bears into one of the best student-athlete facilities in the Big Sky Conference (2010).

Those achievements are small, though, when compared

to the academic accomplishments Northern Colorado student-athletes have achieved under Hinrichs. The Bears routinely lead the Big Sky Conference in graduation rates, and numerous Northern Colorado sport programs have been honored nationally in the past few years for their classroom excellence.

Fundraising has also undergone an expansion effort under, including the addition of the Blue and Gold an-nual fund, Major Gifts, Special Events, sport-specific gifts, endowments, and capital gifts to improve and maintain athletic facilities for the demands of tomorrow.

Before coming to Northern Colorado, Hinrichs worked at the University of Kansas and before that served 18 years in three senior-management positions for the Kansas City Royals Baseball Club, including Director of Stadium oper-ations, Assistant General Manager and Vice President for Ballpark operations and Development.

Hinrichs, who also devotes his time to myriad charitable organizations, earned his bachelor’s (1980) and master’s degree (1983) from Kansas. He and his wife Julie have one son, Jared.

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Advantage Bank is as passionate about a win for their customers as I am about a win for the Bears!

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Northern Colorado Basketball, under the direction of Northern Colorado Hall of Fame coach George Sage, was one of the nation’s most successful NCAA Division II

programs between 1963 and 1966. The Bears’ 1963-64 team finished 18-8 and ad-vanced to the NCAA Southwest Regional in Beaumont, Texas. It featured Wellington

Webb, who became Denver’s first African-American mayor in 1991 and served the city for three terms.

Northern Colorado’s 1988-89 team was considered the best team in school history prior to two years ago, when the Bears eclipsed its win total

with a 25-8 season. The 1988-89 team garnered numerous school records and finished with a No. 11 ranking in the final NCAA Division II national poll. Toby Moser

(31) and Mike Higgins (55) both played for the Bears that season and are found throughout the Northern Colorado Record book.

Head coach B.J. Hill couldn’t have scripted it much better for his first year as the Bears’ leader. After serving as a Northern Colorado assistant for four seasons, Hill was handed the reigns in April 2010 and took the Bears and their fans on a ride the following winter they won’t

soon forget. Northern Colorado added its name to school lore with a remarkable 10-1 run to end its regular season and postseason tournament and earned a spot in its first NCAA Division I Tournament field. The team featured Devon Beitzel (32), an Honorable Mention All-American.

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142 TEAMS WILL PARTICIPATE IN THE TENTH ANNUALA record total of 142 teams – representing 16 collegiate athletic conferences – will compete in the three-day event (February 17-19), with the entire SEARS BracketBusters slate of matchups to be announced in late January.

Of the 71 games, a minimum of 13 will be televised, with six contests on ESPN2 which are simulcast on ESPN3. An additional five games will be aired on ESPNU and two exclusive games on ESPN3. Please consult your local listings for start times.

HOME TEAMS: Albany, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Montana, Northern Arizona, Northern Colorado, Sacramento State, Weber State, Charleston Southern, Coastal Carolina, Gardner-Webb, Radford, Virginia Military Institute, Cal State Fullerton, Cal State Northridge, Pacific, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, Delaware, George Mason, Georgia State, Hofstra, Northeastern, Virginia Commonwealth, Butler, Cleveland State, Detroit, Green Bay, Milwaukee, Canisius, Iona, Loyola (Md.), Manhattan, Saint Peter’s, Ball State, Bowling Green, Central Michigan, Kent State, Miami (Ohio), Ohio, Morgan State, Bradley, Creighton, Evansville, Illinois State, Missouri State, Austin Peay, Eastern Illinois, Eastern Kentucky, Jacksonville State, Murray State, SIU-Edwardsville, Appalachian State, Davidson, McNeese State, Nicholls State, Northwestern State, Sam Houston State, Southeastern Louisiana, Stephen F. Austin, Missouri-Kansas City, North Dakota State, Oral Roberts, South Dakota, South Dakota State, Idaho, Louisiana Tech, New Mexico State, Utah State and Loyola Marymount.

AWAY TEAMS: Binghamton, Boston University, Hartford, Maryland-Baltimore County, Stony Brook, Eastern Washington, Idaho State, Montana State, Portland State, Campbell, High Point, Liberty, Presbyterian, UNC-Asheville, Winthrop, Cal Poly, Long Beach State, UC Davis, UC Santa Barbara, Drexel, James Madison, UNC-Wilmington, Old Dominion, Towson, William & Mary, Illinois-Chicago, Loyola (Ill.), Valparaiso, Wright State, Youngstown State, Fairfield, Marist, Niagara, Rider, Siena, Akron, Buffalo, Eastern Michigan, Northern Illinois, Toledo, Western Michigan, Delaware State, Hampton, Drake, Indiana State, UNI, Southern Illinois, Wichita State, Morehead State, Southeast Missouri State, Tennessee-Martin, Tennessee State, Tennessee Tech, College of Charleston, Wofford, Central Arkansas, Lamar, Texas-Arlington, Texas-San Antonio, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Texas State, IUPUFW, IUPUI, Oakland, Southern Utah, Western Illinois, Fresno State, Hawaii, Nevada, San Jose State and St. Mary’s.

142 TEAMS WILL PARTICIPATE IN THE TENTH ANNUALA record total of 142 teams – representing 16 collegiate athletic conferences – will compete in the three-day event (February 17-19), with the entire SEARS BracketBusters slate of matchups to be announced in late January.

Of the 71 games, a minimum of 13 will be televised, with six contests on ESPN2 which are simulcast on ESPN3. An additional five games will be aired on ESPNU and two exclusive games on ESPN3. Please consult your local listings for start times.

HOME TEAMS: Albany, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Montana, Northern Arizona, Northern Colorado, Sacramento State, Weber State, Charleston Southern, Coastal Carolina, Gardner-Webb, Radford, Virginia Military Institute, Cal State Fullerton, Cal State Northridge, Pacific, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, Delaware, George Mason, Georgia State, Hofstra, Northeastern, Virginia Commonwealth, Butler, Cleveland State, Detroit, Green Bay, Milwaukee, Canisius, Iona, Loyola (Md.), Manhattan, Saint Peter’s, Ball State, Bowling Green, Central Michigan, Kent State, Miami (Ohio), Ohio, Morgan State, Bradley, Creighton, Evansville, Illinois State, Missouri State, Austin Peay, Eastern Illinois, Eastern Kentucky, Jacksonville State, Murray State, SIU-Edwardsville, Appalachian State, Davidson, McNeese State, Nicholls State, Northwestern State, Sam Houston State, Southeastern Louisiana, Stephen F. Austin, Missouri-Kansas City, North Dakota State, Oral Roberts, South Dakota, South Dakota State, Idaho, Louisiana Tech, New Mexico State, Utah State and Loyola Marymount.

AWAY TEAMS: Binghamton, Boston University, Hartford, Maryland-Baltimore County, Stony Brook, Eastern Washington, Idaho State, Montana State, Portland State, Campbell, High Point, Liberty, Presbyterian, UNC-Asheville, Winthrop, Cal Poly, Long Beach State, UC Davis, UC Santa Barbara, Drexel, James Madison, UNC-Wilmington, Old Dominion, Towson, William & Mary, Illinois-Chicago, Loyola (Ill.), Valparaiso, Wright State, Youngstown State, Fairfield, Marist, Niagara, Rider, Siena, Akron, Buffalo, Eastern Michigan, Northern Illinois, Toledo, Western Michigan, Delaware State, Hampton, Drake, Indiana State, UNI, Southern Illinois, Wichita State, Morehead State, Southeast Missouri State, Tennessee-Martin, Tennessee State, Tennessee Tech, College of Charleston, Wofford, Central Arkansas, Lamar, Texas-Arlington, Texas-San Antonio, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Texas State, IUPUFW, IUPUI, Oakland, Southern Utah, Western Illinois, Fresno State, Hawaii, Nevada, San Jose State and St. Mary’s.

2011-12 TV scHeDule

Northern Colorado Basketball was on television a school-record 10 times during the 2010-11 season. Here’s a preliminary schedule of when and where the Bears will be on this season:

Nov. 22 @ Iowa State MediaCom (regional)

Dec. 17 @ Marquette Sports32 (regional)

Jan. 14 Eastern Washington Altitude (regional)

Feb. 4 @ Weber State Altitude (regional)

Feb. 11 Montana State Altitude (regional)

Feb. 18 BracketBusters ESPN (national)

Mar. 6 Big Sky semifinal Altitude (regional)

Mar. 7 Big Sky final ESPN2 (national)

Mar. 13 NCAA Tournament TBD (national)

N orthern Colorado Basketball is quickly becoming one of the nation’s brightest mid-major programs, and television networks across the coun-try are taking notice.

The Bears were on television a school-record 10 times during the 2010-11 season, includ-ing two contests that were shown to a national audience in the Big Sky Conference Men’s Basketball Championship final and Northern Colorado’s game against San Diego State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament that was broadcast on TNT.

Northern Colorado Basketball has been featured in games available across the country more than 30 times in the past four seasons, and that number figures to grow for years to come as the Bears continue to build a top-notch program.

So, if you’re unable to travel with team this season set your calendars to watch them on TV. The Bears will be featured at least nine times this season, and more games could be added as the season progresses.

And if you’re not by a TV, all of Northern Colorado’s games (home and away) are broadcast on 1310-AM KFKA, a radio signal with a listenership of nearly three million. Troy Coverdale is the “Voice of the Bears.”

T he University of Northern Colorado commits to the success of its more than 12,000 students by providing a solid liberal arts foundation, relevant professional

coursework and real-world experiences in an environment where fac-ulty and staff value personal attention as a key to learning.

The university’s five colleges offer more than 100 undergraduate programs of study, which include a nationally recognized business school, innovative nursing programs and award-winning theatre arts and teacher-education programs.

With its rich 118-year history, dedicated faculty, active students and 19 NCAA Division I athletic teams, the University of North-ern Colorado is large enough to provide true university opportunities, and small enough to treat students as individuals.

There are five colleges of study on campus, including the nation-ally acclaimed Kenneth W. Monfort College of Business, as well as the Colleges of Education and Behavioral Sciences, Humanities and Social Sciences, Natural and Health Sciences and Performing and Visual Arts.

The Monfort College of Business was the nation’s first and only business college to receive the Malcolm Baldridge National Qual-

ity Award from the office of the President of the United States and U.S. Department of Commerce -- the nation’s highest honor for quality and performance excellence.

And “Down Beat” magazine has given Northern Colorado’s Jazz Studies program, out of the College of Performing and Visual Arts, more than 100 awards in the past 25 years. The University Symphony orchestra has also been honored as the “Best College orchestra” six times since the year 2000.

Students from 46 states and more than 30 countries comprise the en-rollment at the University of Northern Colorado, and many of those students attend the Greeley campus every year with the help of more than $75 million in grants, loans, work-study programs and scholarships.

The University of Northern Colorado is also at the forefront of college-campus technology, with 600-plus computers available for use in 13 open labs across campus, including a central-campus lab, which is open 24 hours a day.

T he Bears have a distinct advantage when playing in front of their home fans, and that starts way before the ball goes in the air at tip off.

Northern Colorado Athletics and the University of Northern Colorado have pumped nearly $80 million in facilities renovations and upgrades since 2006, and that’s resulted in a student-athlete experience in Greeley that’s second-to-none.

Included in those projects are on-campus jewels, including a brand-new, state-of-the-art student dormitory and a full-service cafe, featur-ing anything a college student’s appetite could require.

Northern Colorado Athletics renovations have included a student-fee funded $16 million facility-expansion and renovation project that added seating and improved the scoreboard in Butler-Hancock Sports Pavilion, the reconstruction of historic Jackson Stadium and the addition of a state-of-the-art Field House for the baseball and women’s soccer pro-grams. Also included were the renovation of Butler-Hancock Athletic Center – including new tennis courts, a field house, new lighted syn-thetic and natural-grass practice and intramural sports fields, the con-

struction of a new indoor climate controlled Practice Center for men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball and a new east side Plaza Concourse and a 2,500 seat expansion for Nottingham Field.

And, opened in August 2010, the New Butler-Hancock Athletic Center expanded and improved the Home of the Bears into one of the best stu-dent-athlete facilities in the Big Sky Conference. The $15 million project included significantly expanded academic areas, including six new class-rooms, five new meeting rooms and a new Student-Athlete Academic Success Center, with computer lab and two seminar rooms.

Also included in the project was a new and four-times larger strength and conditioning center, with new custom-built strength-training equipment, the new Dan Libera Athletic Training Center, featuring a Hydroworx cold-plunge pool and 16 new team rooms.

Highlighting the project is the first Northern Colorado Athletics Hall of Fame and Sports Museum, which includes a new dramatic Sports Pavil-ion front-door and exterior landscaping.

Indeed, the Bears play great at home, and it’s because they have every-thing they need when they are there.

W e had a championship season last year, but the goals of this program haven’t changed one bit.

Northern Colorado basketball has been and will continue to be about two things: n Recruiting and graduating student-athletes who main-

tain a high level of character and represent you and the Uni-versity of Northern Colorado in the highest manner possible.

n Winning Big Sky Conference championships.

We need YoU to help us reach these goals year after year. By joining the Roundball Club you will be investing in a program on the rise and helping to improve the lives of our student-athletes—many of the quality young men in our program would not have the opportunity to obtain a college degree without your generous financial support. Northern Colorado basketball has achieved much in the past few years, and we look forward to the challenges that come with added success.

We need your support to keep this program climbing to evengreater heights!

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I o get a feel for the complexion of his 2011-12 Northern Colorado men’s basketball squad, coach B.J. Hill presented a new challenge – a week-long boot camp.

Morning conditioning sessions started before most college students would con-sider rising, followed by afternoon conditioning with some full-court, three-on-three games. After the team lost four seniors, Hill wanted the team’s new faces to emerge.

The demanding experience was new even to Hill and his coaches.“I think we expected there to be a little negative reaction,” Hill said. It never came though. No eye rolling, no mumbled complaints, no annoyed sighs. To

Hill, the positivity shown revealed another indication of the type of player wearing blue and gold this season for the Bears – a squad of high character players intent on stamping their footprint on the Bears.

“I feel we’re a pretty close team -- all the young guys and older guys,” redshirt freshman Tevin Svihovec said. “I feel like everyone makes everyone better. Everyone’s talented on the team, so there’s really no taking breaks. Everyone pushes everyone.”

And it was during the boot camp, especially the afternoon ses-sions, when drills were done in tandem or in small groups, the Bears sought to form bonds.

“That really brought us together,” redshirt-sophomore center Con-nor osborne said. “It helped us get in shape, but it was great for bonding. We had to rely on one another. It was a really good experi-ence for bringing us all together because we’re so new.”

A new group, indeed.on average, last year’s seniors Devon Beitzel, Chris Kaba, Neal

Kingman and Taylor Montgomery accounted for 113.6 of the 200 minutes per game (56.8 percent) and 46.6 of the Bears’ 71.1 points (65.5 percent). In their place are eight new names on the roster, including seven true freshmen.

Svihovec along with osborne are two players who will be asked to step into voids. Although not new to the roster, they missed last season with injuries and subsequently redshirted – Svihovec with a broken foot and osborne with a broken wrist.

Svihovec, a 6-foot-2, 190-pounder whom Hill said can play all three guard spots, described his time watching last season as “extremely tough” but educational at the same time. He took opportunities to cover Beitzel in practice and incorporate others’ skills to his game.

“I also got to sit back and watch what it takes to get to that level

and sit back and watch Devon Beitzel and what he did, the things that got him to where he is,” said Svihovec, who was rated a top 100 guard by ESPNU after his senior year at Kingwood (Texas) High.

Likewise, osborne called his season on the sideline “frustrating.” While last year would have been Svihovec’s first in Division I basket-ball, osborne had hoped to build on his freshman season in which he played about eight minutes per game.

Healthy again, osborne can provide the Bears with a second inside force alongside senior Mike Proctor.

“Connor osborne has given us a physical presence on the inside that we haven’t had since I’ve been here,” Hill said. “He’s a guy that can score the basketball. He’s deceivingly athletic for his size.”

osborne added he doesn’t think the newcomers will feel the pres-sure to step into the shoes vacated by the departed seniors. Starting on the defensive end and moving forward, the Bears are focusing on the roles assigned to them this season.

“We’re going to have to fill roles we haven’t been part of,” osborne said. “But I think it will come. I think everybody will be able to do it.”

one freshman who could step into one of those roles early is Tim Huskisson, a 6-5, 190-pound forward from Willard, Mo. Hill said Huskisson’s athleticism and nose for the ball has stood out early in camp. Proving Hill’s assessment, Huskisson snagged nine points and three offensive rebounds in just 15 minutes in the Bears’ 89-65 exhibition victory against Chadron State.

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