FAIRBANKS - Parrish West doesn’t want to hear about the Alaska Nanooks’ 11-41 record the past two seasons.

“When I came up on my (recruiting) visit, I sensed that the team was hungry, that the players from last year were tired of losing and were ready for a change,” said West, a junior college transfer from Chicago. “It’s a whole new year.”

The 2009-10 basketball season starts at 7:30 p.m. Thursday against Dominican University from Illinois in the inaugural Alaska Invitational at the Patty Center. Alaska will play Bloomfield on Friday and California (Penn.) on Saturday.

In the starting lineup, the 6-foot-5 West will play wing, joining guards Emmanuel Jenkins and Jon Moe and post players Tony Wilson (a 6-5 senior from Anchorage) and Nashorn Maynard.

“If players get down, pick ‘em up,” West said when asked after practice Tuesday what his role will be. “I’m sort of the energy guy on the team.”

The speedy Jenkins at the point and the dead-eye perimeter shooter Moe are the top returning scorers in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. They combined to tally 37.3 points per game last year.

Maynard, a 6-5 junior from Saint Kitts in the Caribbean, was second in the conference in 2008-09 with 8.8 rebounds per game.

The Nanooks proved last year they could pour in plenty of points, but the question remains: Can they stop anybody?

“We’re a run-and-gun team, but we’re really working on our defense. Defense and conditioning,” said sophomore guard Boe Edwards of Fairbanks, who is back after missing last year in order to focus on academics. The 2006 West Valley graduate said he hopes to provide a spark off the bench like he did in the first half of 07-08.

The Nanooks have just one player taller than 6-5 in transfer Deante Jones of Las Vegas (6-8, 230). That will make the team vulnerable defending in the post and gaining possession after missed shots. The Nanooks will attempt to compensate with their speed.

“We’ve got to have somebody help Nash rebound the basketball,” third-year head coach Clemon Johnson said. “And I think we can if everybody puts their mind to it.”

The key could be Jones, who comes to Fairbanks from NCAA Division I Texas Southern University. But he has been slowed this preseason because of the flu and a sprained ankle.

“We have not gotten him into shape yet. We’ve seen bits and pieces of what he can do, but I don’t know for how long he can do it,” Johnson said.

The first guard off the bench will be Melvin Conn-Baird, a 6-2 junior college transfer from Indianapolis.

Senior guard Clayton Edwin of Fairbanks, who started 16 games last year, also is back.

Then there are the five freshman guards from Alaska — Fairbanks’ Cole Daniel, Colten Growden, Nolan Burcell and Ben Snow (a likely redshirt) and King Salmon’s Mason King.

Most likely to contribute right away is Daniel, though guessing how freshman will respond is no exact science, Johnson said.

“It’s hard to predict what will happen once the popcorn starts poppin,” Johnson said. “You never know who’s gonna shine at that point.”

Johnson said the Nanooks could make a “humongous” jump from the previous two seasons, though everybody must stay healthy and academically eligible.

“We cannot afford to lose one of these pieces of the puzzle,” he said. “With the pieces in place, we are a very strong team.”

Johnson said this year’s team is buying into his system and he feels more comfortable than he did upon arriving in 2007.

“I don’t feel like I have to bump heads every day to get someone to play basketball ... so it’s much easier to put a scheme together,” Johnson said.

However, the former NBA champion with the Philadelphia 76ers knows the importance of improving in the win-loss column. He puts pressure on himself in that regard but has not felt pressure from the athletics administration or anyone else.

“No one’s come to me and told me ‘Clem, either you do something this year or we’re going to get rid of you,’” he said.

Alaska Basketball Alaska

Invitational

At Patty Center

Thursday’s Games

Game 1: Bloomfield vs. California (PA), 5:15 p.m.

Game 2: Alaska vs. Dominican, 7:30 p.m.

Friday’s Games

Game 3: California (PA) vs. Dominican, 5:15 p.m.

Game 4: Bloomfield vs. Alaska, 7:30 p.m.

Saturday’s Games

Game 5: Dominican vs. Bloomfield, 5:15 p.m.

Game 6: Alaska vs. California (PA), 7:30 p.m.