LEWISTON – Ben Thayer and Jon Furbush missed being Bates College basketball teammates by one year. That makes their juxtaposition on a recent afternoon at toasty Alumni Gymnasium just a smidge shocking.

Thayer, soaked in sweat, cooled down from a tiring three-man weave drill by chatting up a visitor to practice. Furbush, standing comfortably along the baseline with a whistle around his neck, barked out instructions while the Bobcats honed their half-court game.

Meet the new boss, not nearly the same as the old boss. Or anyone else’s boss in the nation, for that matter.

“Coach is bringing a lot of energy for us, a lot of positive energy,” said Thayer, a senior tri-captain. “He’s easy to work hard for.”

Furbush, 25 when anointed the 21st men’s basketball coach in Bates history over the summer, is believed to be the youngest leader in NCAA men’s hoop this season, across all divisions.

Casey Stitzel briefly owned that distinction when he advanced from the high school ranks last spring to accept the post at Delaware Valley (Pa.) College. Stitzel just turned 27.

“Being so close to when I was playing, I can see eye-to-eye with these 17- and 18-year-old guys,” said Furbush. “It’s amazing to think four years ago when I was playing that I’d be telling these guys what to do. They’re great listeners. I’m fortunate to be in the position that I’m in.”

Bates has a history as a cradle of men’s basketball coaches. Furbush isn’t even the youngest in the school record book. Rick Boyages was 24 at the outset of his four-season stint in 1987. And Furbush succeeds Joe Reilly, who was 28 when he walked through what had been a revolving door at Bates in ’97.

Reilly presided over the longest extended run of success in the program’s 100-year existence. He left behind a chain of eight consecutive winning seasons. Prior to Reilly’s arrival, no Bates senior class had finished all four years above the .500 mark since 1960-61.

Now the coach at Wesleyan in his native Connecticut, Reilly went 154-121 over 11 years at Bates. The Bobcats were 92-37 (.714 winning percentage) in his last five winters. Reilly also directed the first 20-win campaign in school history in 2005-06.

“There’s a lot of pressure. But I think I have tremendous support of the guys. They want to win just as bad as everybody else does,” Furbush said. “Joe did not leave an easy path. Those are big shoes to fill.”

A native of South Portland, Furbush played three years at Bates, starting 67 games and scoring just fewer than 750 points. He was an assistant under Reilly for two years before spending last winter at Springfield (Mass.) College.

Furbush was in charge of scouting, practice management, player development and recruiting at both schools.

“The mood in the gym this year has been a little more laid-back, but at the same time it’s been more energetic,” said junior captain Chris Wilson. “Having a coach who’s been a student-athlete at a more recent time than the coaches I’ve had in the past, I feel like he’s a little more in tune to what it’s like. He’s our coach, but he’s also a friend. We have a relationship that we can go see him about anything we need, whether it’s on the court or off.”

When Wilson was a senior at Brewer High School, Furbush’s sales pitch helped lead him to Bates.

The new coach’s Maine connections probably are no accident. Prior to Reilly’s arrival, the Bates roster was top-heavy with players from New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts.

Bates has emerged as a consistent force in the New England Small College Athletic Conference on the shoulders of in-state talent. Wilson and Thayer are two of six Maine players on the current roster. Kyle Philbrook of Auburn (Edward Little), Bangor’s Ryan Weston and Reid Christian of Pownal (Freeport) highlighted this year’s recruiting class.

“There’s some great talent here in Maine,” Furbush said. “If we can just sell them on the education and the ability to play right away as a freshman, we’re going to be successful.”

Thayer thinks Furbush’s youth and vivacious personality are advantages to that end.

“If you ask these guys, a lot of them will say the reason they came here was talking with Coach Furbush on the phone,” said Thayer. “He’s the kind of guy you enjoy talking to. It’s not forced or anything.”

Many younger coaches would prefer a large rebuilding project to the situation at Bates, where the Bobcats have been scratching at the doorstep to challenge NESCAC giants Amherst, Williams and Trinity since Furbush’s playing days.

But Bates believes that Reilly’s tenure, though sensational at times, left plenty on the table.

“Ever since Coach Reilly began, I think he strived for that NESCAC championship here that we’ve never had. Coach Furbush has made a point that we need to do something different this year,” Wilson said. “The same things haven’t worked the last four or five years. Whether it’s running the extra sprint or getting in here before practice for an extra workout, we’ve got to do something special.”

“The culture that Joe created is one that I’ve kept,” added Furbush. “We’re looking to win a championship.”