The process hasn’t changed in North Idaho College men’s basketball coach Corey Symons’ sixth year at the helm.

Some steps have just been taken away for the time being.

NIC’s men are ineligible for the Northwest Athletic Conference Tournament in March due to sanctions handed down to the program last spring.

“We’ve been focusing on the process that we’ve had over the last five years, not so much on wins and losses,” said Symons, whose team begins the season on Friday in the Harold Williams Invitational at Portland Community College, facing Chemeketa at 6 p.m. “We’re not talking games, championships or rings, and just focused on getting better each day, working with these student-athletes and working with the team.”

As a result of the sanctions, Symons is suspended for the Cardinals first 10 games against NWAC competition, including this weekend’s games at Portland Community College. Symons will be eligible to coach games against non-NWAC schools according to NIC spokeswoman Laura Rumpler. Assistant coach George Swanson will be the head coach in Symons’ absence.

NIC was also stripped of its back-to-back Northwest Athletic Conference men’s basketball tournament championships as a result of sanctions placed on the school in August.

Sanctions include the loss of four scholarships each of the next three years, along with a three-year ban from postseason play, three years’ probation for the athletic department and a $30,000 fine.

“I tell our guys all the time, and look back at the (NJCAA) Sweet 16 team (2015-16),” Symons said. “We don’t talk about the games that we won. We just talk about the process, the travel and the practices that got us there. The postseason stuff isn’t that big of a deal to us right now. We’re focused on getting better, both academically and basketball-wise, and getting them to the next level.”

During national signing day on Wednesday, Yusef Mohammed — a 6-foot-11 forward from West Seattle — signed with Tennessee State of the Ohio Valley Conference.

Sophomores Nate Pryor (6-4 guard from Seattle), Emmitt Taylor III (6-4 guard), Phillip Malatare (6-1 point guard), Ismael Valdez (6-9 forward) and Jaden Dewar (6-6 guard/forward) return from last year’s team which finished 31-2. Coeur d’Alene High product Joey Naccarato, a 6-5 guard/forward, has transferred from Division I Massachusetts-Lowell after redshirting last year due to injury.

“The nice thing about this group is we’ve got 14 kids on the roster, and four of them are freshmen,” Symons said. “It’s hard to say a team is upper-class loaded at the junior college level, but we’re upper-class loaded. We’ve got a lot of experience and kids that can compete.”

NIC already tested itself with games against NAIA and NJCAA schools in jamborees last month. NIC has also added former Scenic West Athletic Conference rivals College of Southern Idaho (Dec. 5), Snow (Dec. 7) during a tournament in Twin Falls.

“It was nice to go to those jamborees and get some experience and let our guys know we’re capable of beating anybody in the country,” Symons said. “But we’ve still got some work to do.”

NIC hasn’t played CSI since moving from the NJCAA since the 2015-16 season.

“It’s nice to open that communication with them again,” Symons said. “We’ve had some great battles with CSI over the years. Since the switch, we haven’t played them, but have played against Snow and Eastern Utah. We’re excited to go down and play in that tournament. We get to play Snow again, which will be nice. It’s great for us. If you want to see where you’re at, to be the best, you’ve got to play the best. And those teams are the best junior colleges in the west. It’s exciting to get a chance to play them and see where we stack up.”

NIC will also compete in the Pima Invitational in Arizona Dec. 28-29 before opening conference play against Big Bend on Jan. 2 at Rolly Williams Court.

“We’ve got some guys back that have a lot of experience and had a lot of success,” Symons said. “Sometimes that can be an Achilles heel, because they can get a little overconfident, so we’ve got to balance the bridge. We really like the sophomore leadership. We’ve competed at a high level for the last few years and these guys know what it takes to compete. The chemistry is there, but the key is going to be managing everyone.”