COEUR d'ALENE - When it came to replacing a two-time All-American, all North Idaho College men's basketball coach Jared Phay had to do was check his email.

Josh Turner, a 6-foot-5 guard from Auburndale, Fla., has signed with NIC. He originally committed to UMass out of high school, but failed to qualify academically. Rated by ESPN.com as a top 100 player in the nation at his position, he averaged 28.5 points per game.

"His older brother played with (former NIC player) Idell Bell," Phay said. "After he wasn't able to go to UMass, he emailed us. We looked up his stats, he flew up here for a visit and we signed him right away."

Bell, who played at NIC in the 2009-10 season, originally committed to Idaho but changed his mind, and has since signed with Columbus State University, an NCAA Division II school in Columbus, Ga.

Antoine Hosley, a former walk-on at the University of Washington who played 14 games for the Huskies last season, has transferred to NIC. He is a former high school teammate of departing NIC sophomore Tyrone White, who signed with Cal State-Bakersfield.

Michael Middlebrooks, a 6-foot-8 post from Rainier Beach High, has also signed with NIC.

"He's a very long, athletic guy," Phay said. "He needs to put some weight on, but he's got a large upside."

Keon Lewis, a 6-2 guard from Chief Sealth High in Seattle, also signed in April. Lewis played for the Seahawks in the 2009 Holiday Inn Express Invitational at North Idaho College.

"Keon is a big, strong guard that really attacks the hoop," Phay said.

Ryan Neve, a 6-2 guard from Sandy, Utah, committed to play at the University of Rochester out of high school, but went on an LDS mission instead.

“We met him when we were down in Salt Lake,” Phay said. “He came to the regional tournament with his dad and talked with all the coaches in our league. He can really, really shoot it and that will be his thing for us.”

Kole Luckett, a 6-3 guard from Auburn, Wash., rounds out the freshman class. He led Auburn-Riverside with 18.5 points per game and is the son of former Idaho Vandal Kenny Luckett.

“I think we can get the most out of all of them,” said Phay, who has been head coach at NIC for seven seasons.

Phay said he expects five players to return from last year’s NIC roster. Connor White (Coeur d’Alene High), Jake Owsley (Bozeman, Mont.) and Petar Joksimovic played last year as freshmen, and Jordan McLeod and former Lakeland High standout Joel Underdahl redshirted.

NIC still has a couple of scholarships available, Phay added.

Moving on to four-year schools are Michael Hale, who was named All-American in both seasons at NIC, and will attend the University of Texas-San Antonio; Abebe Dismissie, Division II Alaska-Anchorage; Nick Fromm, NAIA Lewis-Clark State; DeAndre Taylor, Evergreen State College (Olympia, Wash.) and Zach Peterson, College of Idaho of Caldwell.

Sophomores Nate Clinton, Idris Lasisi and Ameer Shamsud-din are still undecided on their future plans, Phay said.