WIP NW

Next are the  Northwestern Wildcats who tied with Nebraska for third in the B1G.  They are coached by Chris Collins, son of NBA coach Doug Collins. He has been in Evanston for 11 years, and he has been to the NCAA tournament three times, each time losing in the Round of 32.  Two of those tournament apprearances were in the last two seasons.  Before those season, he had only finished better than 9th in the B1G one time.

Collins' NCAA tournament appearances are the only three times the Wildcats have been there.  To find a Northwestern coach with a winning record you have to back to Arthur Lonborg who coached there from 1927 to 1950.  I don't remember him either, and I grew up in Chicago and hung out in Evanston.

Collins is one game below .500 in his career, which makes him the most successfui Northwestern coach in 74 years.
  
CHANGES

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GRADUATING

Player	Games	Starts	Minutes	Points	Rebounds	Assists	Notes
Boo Buie	34	34	37	19	3.3	5.0	5 years at NU.  Leading scorer, assists.  43% on threes.
Ryan Langborg	32	32	33	13	2.0	2.5	42% on threes.
Blake Preston	28	0	10	2	2.0	0.9
.
.

With the graduation of Buie and Langborg, Northwestern loses 2 starters and 2 of their 3 best three-point shooters. 

IN THE DRAFT OR TURNING PRO

Player	Games	Starts	Minutes	Points	Rebounds	Assists	Can Return?
Brooks Barnhizer	34	34	37	15	7.5	2.6	Yes
.

Barnhizer was their second-leading scorer and led the team in rebounds and steals.  Being great at rebounding and steals is unusual.  If he stays in the draft, it would be a big loss.

He was not invited to the combine, so I am going to assume he returns.  

TRANSFERRING OUT

Player	Games	Starts	Minutes	Points	Rebounds	Assists	Notes	Destination
Parker Strauss	0
.
.
.
.

Freshman Parker Strauss never played for the Wildcats.


RETURNING

Player	Games	Starts	Minutes	Points	Rebounds	Assists	FG%	3Pt%	A/TO	Class	Recruiting  Stars	Recruiting Rank
Brooks Barnhizer G	34	34	37	15	7.5	2.6	43%	35%	1.7	Sr	3	157
Ty Berry G	23	23	20	12	3.9	1.4	45%	43%	1.3	Sr 5	3	149
Nick Martinelli F	34	11	26	9	4.3	1.1	49%	27%	1.5	Jr	Unranked
Matthew Nicholson C	29	24	22	5	4.3	1.8	66%	--	2.9	Sr	3	274
Luke Hunger F	31	10	13	4	2.1	0.6	45%	20%	1.3	Jr	3	204
Justin Mullins										Jr	Unranked
Jordan Clayton										So	3	189
Blake Smith G	10	2	14	2	1.7	0.5	64%	33%	0.8	Jr	Unranked

If Barnhizer stays in the draft, Northwestern will return four scholarship players.  Even if he does return, that makes five.  

"Collins turned to an unlikely source, pulling sophomore walk-on guard Blake Smith into his office. Smith decided to redshirt earlier in the season to preserve his eligibility, but dire circumstances called for swift action."

Blake Smith is a walk-on who has been playing


RECRUITS

Keenan Fitzmorris started his career at Stanford, where he didn't play much in his two seasons. He only started around one-third of his games for the 6th place team in the Colonial Conference, where he led the team in blocks. None of this suggests he is ready to play in the B1G.

Jalen Leach was the second-leading scorer for the 2nd-place team in the Mid-American Conference.  

This is not a very impressive transfer class.

CONCLUSION