RADFORD -- The last 17-plus months have passed for Lazar Trifunovic at the pace of a steady, infuriating drip from a faucet with a worn-out washer.

The date was March 8, 2008. That was the last time the Radford University junior played a game of organized basketball. The location was Binghamton University Events Center in Vestal, N.Y., where the 6-foot-8 Serb participated in the final game of a two-year career as a power forward for the Bearcats. He scored 10 points and hauled in seven rebounds while playing a team-high 39 minutes in a 65-57 loss to America East Conference rival Vermont.

With four starters back for the defending Big South Conference champion Highlanders, anticipation is running high for the season opener tonight against Navy. Nobody's looking forward to the advent of the 2009-10 campaign more earnestly than Trifunovic, previously on tedious leave from competition as per NCAA transfer statutes.

"It's been incredibly hard for somebody like me who was able to come right in and contribute in college for two years," he said in flawless English. "I went from playing 35 minutes a game to not playing at all. It was going from one extreme to another. It's the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life as an athlete."

Hard basketball times continue, at least in the near term. Trifunovic broke his wrist taking what was described by coach Brad Greenberg as "a hard foul" driving to the basket during a Nov. 1 scrimmage. Trifunovic underwent surgery on the wrist Nov. 6 and is expected to miss at least the first four games. Greenberg said the player will not be rushed back before he's ready.

It's already been a long wait for Trifunovic's coaches and teammates. Imagine how they felt with a player of his caliber sitting beside them in street clothes on game nights last year? This is, after all, an athlete who had two years of Division I starting experience, 706 career points and 39 games in which he scored in double figures.

Trifunovic could cut a handsome figure alongside front-line stalwarts Joey Lynch-Flohr (6-8) and Art Parakhouski (6-11) this season.

"Once he gets some of the rust off from not playing in a game for a year and a half, more than that, and we get in a comfort zone having all three of those guys on the court the court at the same time -- we're still working through that," Greenberg said.

Trifunovic anticipates minimal trouble adjusting anew to the speed of the college game.

"I've been playing basketball since I was 7 years old," he said a day before his surgery. "It's like riding a bike. You can't forget how to do it. I know for a fact that it may take me a little while to really get going after not playing for a year and as half. When I do, I expect not to be as good as before but even better after working under Coach Greenberg and with great players such as Joey, Art, Amir [Johnson], Phillip [Martin] and the rest of them."

Until Trifunovic heals, the Art-Joey-Laz frontcourt will be on hold, with Martin moving back into the starting lineup. When the tall threesome does take the court eventually, it may well come to draw notices as the most imposing and talented in conference history. That's three double-doubles waiting to happen.

The conference coaches and publicists must like the possibilities, voting the Highlanders the preseason favorite to repeat as champion.

Trifunovic is feeling the possibilities already.

"To be honest with you, I've already told Art and Joey that for the first time since I've come to the States, that I'm playing with dominant post players like those two are. My job is now a lot easier," he said.

As if anybody is going to have an easy time of it with a beefed-up schedule that includes trips to Duke on Nov. 21, Kansas on Dec. 9 and Louisville on Dec. 27.

At Binghamton, Trifunovic was the team's primary rebounder.

"I'd have to work as hard as I ever had for seven rebounds," he said. "With those two, I'll be the biggest small forward in the conference. I'll be able to help the team win a lot more easily."

Not that the big boys are all going to be together all the time. They'll all start. After that, lineups will be adjusted according to circumstances. Greenberg said the transfer will play as many minutes with only one of the two post standouts as he gets playing with both of them.

Trifunovic describes himself as a "drive-first guy."

"If there's an open 3-pointer or a mid-range jumper, I'll take it, but that's not my first option," he said. "I'll drive to the basket in transition or catch the ball at the 3-point line and drive. If that doesn't work, I can always post up. I'll be bigger than most of the guys who are guarding me."

Radford also welcomes seven freshmen and junior-college transfer Jeremy Robinson. Three mainstays from last year's team are gone -- wing Kenny Thomas and post player Eric Hall, whose eligibility expired; and guard Chris McEachin, no longer with the team because of academic issues.

Trifunovic comes from impeccable basketball bloodlines. He's the only child of Olivera Cangalovic, an accountant in Belgrade, Serbia, who once was a pro ballplayer and member of the national team in the former Yugoslavia.

"She was big-time back then," he said. "She stopped playing when I was born because she believed that raising a child was more important."

Trifunovic, who has no relationship with his father, was raised by his mother and grandparents in a country that went through trying times in the ethnic wars following the Yugoslavian breakup. Trifunovic's family was living in Belgrade when the city underwent bombing by NATO forces in 1999.

The family was lucky amid horrific circumstances.

"I have never experienced the true meaning of the word war," he said. "I do not want to make this a sad story. There were hard times, there were good times."

As a college hoops prospect, he was discovered by then-Binghamton assistant coach Ali Ton, who saw him on tape first. Trifunovic signed and played for then-head coach Al Walker, who was subsequently forced out at the end the player's freshman year. Trifunovic stuck around and played for new coach Kevin Broadus as a sophomore.

From the player's perspective, it wasn't a good fit.

"I wanted to get better," Trifunovic said. "I needed a new challenge."

Ton subsequently had landed on Greenberg's Radford staff. Lines of communication reopened. The player found a new home last year.

A sociology major, he'll have his degree in May. He'll pursue graduate studies next year at Radford. Last spring, he had a 4.0 grade point average and approaches that figure for his college average.

Of course, he'd love to play pro ball, if not in the NBA then in Europe. He's already thinking beyond that to a career as a sociology teacher, high school or college.

"My mother insisted that I have a Plan B," he said.

As for Plan A, that's been going pretty well and figures to get better.