Proctor finding role at Northern Colorado

Snow. A foreign concept to Michael Proctor. But there it was when he woke up in Greeley, Colorado on a recent morning. Three inches of it.

"That's the biggest transition I've had to make," said Proctor, a former star for Desert Vista boys basketball and volleyball, leading each team to a state championship in his final two years at the school.

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He's lived in Arizona his whole life, but now Proctor is a 6-foot-8, 200-pound freshman for the Northern Colorado men's basketball team -- averaging 3.8 points and 3.3 rebounds, no less - and has been thrust right into the heart of NCAA basketball.

Playing in 15 of his team's 16 games, Proctor earned his first start against Liberty on Dec. 22 -- just six games into his career.

"It was something I've been working toward all season," Proctor said. "My goal this year was actually just to play as a freshman, because we have two bigger centers than myself, stronger and they weigh more, so they can do better in the post. I was just playing, so starting as a freshman really meant a lot to me."

In addition to that start (10 points, eight rebounds), his best game to date may have come at Creighton on Dec. 13, when he hauled in 12 rebounds and scored six points.

"Right now, it's kind of changing game-by-game," Proctor said of his role on the Bears. "Since I'm coming off the bench, it's a lot easier for me to do what I need to do. Because if I see that our team needs to get some offensive rebounding, then I'm going to go in there and try and rebound my butt off, but if our team needs defense in the post, then that's what I'm going to go out there and do. My role is changing ever so slightly every game."

During his team's most recent game, a loss at Texas State, Proctor saw a career-high 28 minutes of action, second-most on the team, and scored 13 points while grabbing eight boards.

"Playing? That's pretty much the best part," Proctor said. "I'd obviously much rather be playing and learning than sitting on the bench, but just playing, it's unbelievable.

"I'm getting better every game and every practice because I'm playing with older guys who know the game a little bit better and who are that much stronger and twice as fast as I am, twice as quick. Playing in games with different conferences and different teams, everyday is a learning experience for me."

Proctor and the Bears opened the season at Oregon, a school in Pacific 10 Conference that plays on legendary McArthur Court. They held tough, closing from down 61-49 to within 61-59 before losing 66-64.

"That was really nuts, actually," Proctor said. "As a team, we went out and tried to show the NCAA community that we could play with pretty much any conference in the United States.

"Because that game was close at the end, the whole building started to shake."

He's made an impression on UNC coach Tad Boyle, too.

"He ran the floor so well and was so active," Boyle told local media after a game in November. "He's been, quite honestly, a really pleasant surprise from the time we signed him to the time he stepped foot on campus.

"Mike didn't play with any fear, and I liked that."