COEUR d'ALENE - The season hasn't even started for the North Idaho College men's basketball team and they've already suffered a bad bounce.

Redshirt freshman Cole Luckett, expected to start at wing this season, tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in April - the same injury that sidelined him for most of the 2011-12 season - and will miss at least the first month of the season according to coach Jared Phay.

The recovery time is 6 to 7 months.

"Unfortunately, he tore it again in the spring," said Phay of Luckett. "He kind of practiced today (Tuesday), but hasn't been fully released to play yet. We're hoping he might be able to play again by December, but right now, we're not sure."

Luckett, a 6-foot-3 wing, was injured in the Cardinals' second game of the season last year and without him they finished 23-7, losing the Region 18 championship game 58-52 to Southern Idaho.

Knowing that Luckett could miss time, Phay hit the recruiting trail and added depth to the team.

"I think we've got more depth this year," Phay said. "Last year, we went in not knowing if he was going to be able to play (at the end of the season). If he can get back this year, he'll definitely be able to come in and help us."

Michael Middlebrooks, a 6-9 sophomore forward, as well as 6-2 guard Keon Lewis and 7-foot center Kaj Sherman return after starting last year.

“Those guys will really help us,” Phay said. “Especially from a leadership aspect. They’ve been through the (Scenic West) conference schedule and know how tough our league is. That kind of leadership is invaluable.”

NIC opens the 2012-13 season at the Arizona Western tournament in Yuma, Ariz., on Thursday, facing Tohono O’doham before taking on tournament host Arizona Western on Friday. The NJCAA has added four at-large bids for schools that don’t receive an automatic bid for winning their conference tournament.

“We really didn’t schedule any differently because of it,” Phay said. “It’s more of a coincidence. We’re trying to do a home-and-home with Arizona Western and with our conference schedule, we’ll get an even amount of tough games. It’s our year to have a tougher schedule anyway.”

Middlebrooks is gathering Division I interest from Nevada, Bradley, Nebraska, Missouri, Gonzaga, Washington State, Idaho, Seattle U and Wichita State, while Sherman has interest from Idaho, Nebraska and Montana.

Phay added that both will wait until the late signing period to make decisions on where to play next.

Jordan McCloud, a redshirt sophomore from Federal Way, will likely start or be a top reserve this year. Chris Sarbaugh, a 6-foot-3 transfer from Gonzaga, will start at point guard.

“We’ll start Chris at the point and move Keon to the two guard,” Phay said. “I think Keon’s more of a scoring guard than a point guard and that’s more of a natural spot for him. Sarbaugh is more of a pure point guard and distributor on the court.”

Freshman Mikey Webb, a 6-9 forward, will also be in the starting mix.

Adding depth will be 6-9 freshman Nate Rathburn from Deary, along with Jalil Abdul-Bassit, a 6-4 junior college transfer from Monroe College in Rochester, N.Y.

“Nathan has came a long way since coming here,” Phay said. “Jalil can play all three guard spots and could be a possible starter.”

Jason Wheelock (6-2), who played soccer at NIC and graduated from Lake City High, returns from his LDS church mission and will have two years of eligibility remaining. Redshirt freshman Andrew Baracco (6-1), formerly of Coeur d’Alene High, will also come off the bench.

“Both of them will be sparkplugs off the bench,” Phay said. “Both of them can come off the bench and play hard and fill the role similar to what Connor White (formerly of Coeur d’Alene High) did last year.”

The conference schedule includes two trips to Salt Lake and Southern Idaho — which has won the last two regional tournaments and the NJCAA title in 2011.

“I think we’ve got a really tough schedule,” Phay said. “We go there twice and they only come here once. Hopefully they (NJCAA tournament committee) see our schedule is tough and won’t strictly go on our record.”

NIC hosts the Region 18 tournament Feb. 28-March 2.

“We’re excited about that,” Phay said. “We’re feeling pretty good about having it here.”

The winner will travel to the winner of the Arizona region for a NJCAA tournament play-in game.

“That’s another part of the reason we scheduled Arizona Western,” Phay said. “If we win the regional tournament, we’ve got the experience of going down there and playing.”

Games will be webcast and available through a link on the www.nicathletics.com website.