Less than two weeks after graduating from Sunrise Mountain, Colin Carey was in Flagstaff on the next stage.
He’s still there with the rest of the NAU basketball team. Carey arrived in Flagstaff on May 30th. Since then, the 6-6 striker has been lifting four days a week and playing three days.
“I like it very much up here. It’s beautiful and I like the rain. Everyone is very honest and hardworking, ”said Carey.
Carey’s recruitment began and ended with the Lumberjacks – he officially signed his letter of intent on May 3rd. But like the rest of the 2021 class, his recruiting path has been bumpy.
Carey ended a promising second season in 2019 with an average of 11.8 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. A few months later, the Mustangs made their way to the NAU for camp.
His most important bridge to college basketball was built there in the summer of 2019.
He was a promising wing entering its junior season. Shane Burcar was the Lumberjacks’ senior assistant and was soon promoted to interim head coach when Jack Murphy left.
“That’s when Shane saw him. After getting the job and insisting on making sure the best talent stayed in Arizona, Sunrise Mountain trainer Gary Rath said.
During the Lumberjacks’ 2019-20 season, Carey headed north for a game. With Burcar as interim trainer, the NAU 16 would win.
“I saw the game and I really liked the environment. And the city is beautiful, ”said Carey.
Still, it was early in his recruiting process and other Division I programs like California-Riverside and the University of San Diego showed interest.
Rath recalls talking to Carey about NAU during his junior season and the forward said he was waiting for summer 2020 – before that basketball summer was largely wiped out.
“It was on the map. People talked about him. Then he lost a whole spring and summer, ”said Rath.
Not least thanks to Carey’s Starturn, Sunrise Mountain has arrived as a force in 5A. He brought in 17.1 points and got seven rebounds per game while the Mustangs played in the toughest region of the conference.
Two weeks into the season, the athletes’ lives of 2021 – along with the rest of the country – practically came to a standstill.
“It sucks that COVID arrived and we didn’t have a live phase. We talked to each other and wondered if we’d get the chance to go to college and play, ”said Carey.
Colleges caught up with him a few games in the shortened 2021 season, which was canceled just before it started in mid-January.
Sunrise Mountain finished 11-10, but Carey carried the roster into the 5A quarter-finals, scoring 20.1 points and taking 8.2 rebounds.
The schools spoke to Rath during the season, but his star became more and more certain of his decision.
“He just felt more comfortable at NAU,” said Rath.
Carey said he was sure of the Mustangs about a month after the season ended.
“I didn’t mean to wait too long to make the decision,” said Carey.
While there are several Arizona players making their way back to the Lumberjacks roster, Carey said the only one he knows well is former Ironwood star Ajang Aguek.
Rath had been talking to Carey since he went to Flagstaff and saw his enthusiasm.
The COVID-19-marked NCAA season did the NAU a disservice as Burcar’s first team finished 6-16 as head coach. With more normalcy and an upside down roster, this could be the year the NAU takes a leap to the big sky, or at least the start of a revival.
“I’m excited to see what’s coming,” said Carey.
Richard Smith
Associate Editor | Surprise and West Valley Preps | [email protected]
Richard Smith joined Independent Newsmedia in 2016 and worked for a Sun City-based news company covering the Northwest Valley for 22 consecutive years.
A NAU alum and lifelong resident of Arizona, Richard started out as a copy editor and page designer for Surprise Today and the Daily News-Sun, then rekindled his love of sports writing by taking the reins of West Valley Preps in 2008.
For most of the mid-2010s, he was a Surprise editor and West Valley Preps reporter. He is now the West Valley Preps Editor and Surprise Associate Editor.
With COVID restrictions slowly being lifted, Richard is cautiously optimistic that he will be visiting bookstores, soccer fields and gyms again this fall.
Twitter: @rsmithYWV
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