THE FRONT ROW WITH JASON ELLIOTT: Saturday, April 30, 2016

It’s a process, but some of the pieces are starting to fall into place as far as those that are going to step onto the court for the North Idaho College men’s and women’s basketball teams when they move to the Northwest Athletic Conference starting with the 2016-17 season, as well as a few finding new places at the next level.

THE MEN’s basketball team, fresh off its best finish in program history (31-2), will have to replace a handful of Division I signees — five so far — off that team.

Reloading the roster has been a work in progress, but the end is coming soon, according to coach Corey Symons.

“It’s going really well,” Symons said. “Obviously, we’ve got to lock down all of our freshman and those guys coming back. We’ve got a great group of guys coming back.”

Last week, NIC received a commitment from Niko Bevens of Beaverton, Ore.

“He’s a 6-foot-6 shooter,” Symons said of Bevens. “It’s a huge signing for us. He’s really good, athletic and can shoot it. We’re still trying to recruit the highest kids at the national level.”

As far as those guys coming back, freshmen Haywood Irwin, Lake City High product Scott Turner and Coeur d’Alene High product Tony Naccarato, and redshirts Markus Golder and Keegan Hansen, could opt to return for next season. Redshirt freshman Sam Dowd could return, but could also opt to move on to a four-year school.

“Sam’s the last freshman that we’re not sure of right now,” Symons said. “He loves it here, but visited Alcorn State, Mississippi and Western Washington. He’s got some options to continue, but it depends if he wants to play at the next level. He’s a great kid and we’d love to have him back, but he’s still got some choosing to do. Other than that, all of our other freshmen will more than likely be back.”

Freshman Trey Burch-Manning signed with South Dakota last week.

Braian Angola-Rodas, who signed with Florida State last week, isn’t quite done representing the Cardinal program quite yet. Angola-Rodas will take part in the NJCAA men’s All-Star Basketball Game today at 4:30 p.m. at The Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.

Angola-Rodas, playing on the Division I team along with Tad Dufelmeier of Salt Lake, will face a team of Division II and III players in a game that is being held in conjunction with a Nike Basketball Coaches Clinic.

AS FAR as the women’s team goes, 6-foot forward Shelby Cloninger has signed with Division II Alaska Anchorage and Monica Landdeck, a 5-8 guard, verballed to Montana Tech of the NAIA’s Frontier Conference.

Landdeck started in all 27 games this season she played in this season, averaging 9.7 points per game and finishing with 51 assists. Montana Tech went 9-21 last season in a conference that sent Lewis-Clark State, Carroll, Great Falls and Montana State-Northern to the national tournament.

Cloninger, who played her freshman year at Utah State in the 2013-14 season, led the Cardinals in scoring with 13.5 points per game, with 15 blocked shots and 45 steals.

Alaska Anchorage, which finished last season 38-3, lost in the Division II national championship game to Lubbock Christian 78-73 in Indianapolis on April 4.

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d’Alene Press. He can be reached by telephone at 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at jelliott@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter @JEPressSports.