It's June, which means it's visit season for college basketball recruiting.

Head coach Chris Collins and his staff were on the road in May, checking out prospects in AAU tournaments across the country during the Evaluation Period. Now that the Dead Period that prohibits recruiting contact ended on June 2, they will try to get their top Class of 2025 targets on campus this month.

The program will have to replace guards Ty Berry and Brooks Barnhizer, and big man Matt Nicholson, at a minimum, after the 2024-25 season.

These are the seven players -- five guards and two bigs -- that sources say are the program’s primary focus right now:


GUARDS

Mason Blackwood
Login to view embedded media Northwestern is one of eight programs to offer Blackwood since May 19 – Boston College, West Virginia, Rutgers, Penn State and Wake Forest are some of the others. A big guard/wing player with toughness and athleticism, Blackmon hails from New York but is playing a prep year at New Hampton (N.H.).

Jaden Forsythe
Login to view embedded media Forsythe has become a hot commodity after a strong showing for Team Final on the AAU circuit. He’s picked up recent offers from Northwestern, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest and Xavier and now has nine Power Five offers. A tough, athletic two guard, he has proven that he can score from anywhere.

Phoenix Gill
Login to view embedded media Gill’s famous father Kendall played at Illinois, but his mother is a Northwestern grad. The Cats offered Gill after a visit last July. The Chicago St. Ignatius product has also visited Illinois, Iowa State (multiple times) and Stanford, and he will likely choose from among those four.

Josiah Sanders
Login to view embedded media Northwestern’s offer on May 24 was one of five Power Five offers that Sanders received within five days. He said that NU’s guard play and the hostile home-court atmosphere at Welsh-Ryan Arena is why the program interests him. He now has 15 total offers, eight from the Power Five.

Simon Walker
Login to view embedded media Interest in Walker has skyrocketed after his impressive performances on the Under Armour circuit. He picked up eight offers at the end of May, including Northwestern on May 25. The versatile shooter from Huntsville, Ala., also drew tenders from Butler, Clemson, DePaul, Iowa, Tennessee, Virginia Tech and UAB.


BIGS

Cade Bennerman
Login to view embedded media Bennerman only has an offer from Tennessee State at this point, but he drew attention from big-time programs after his strong showing for Game Elite (Ga.) on the Adidas Three-Stripe Select circuit. Duke, Iowa, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Tennessee and Vanderbilt are among the schools to reach out.

Brady Koehler
Login to view embedded media Koehler added offers from Northwestern, Rutgers, Stanford, Virginia and West Virginia in the past month. Butler, Notre Dame, Wake Forest and a long list of mid-majors got on him over the winter, after he averaged 15.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game for Indianapolis Cathedral.

Beggars can’t be choosers.

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Check out our profile on high three-star 2025 DE Adam Shovlin from Connecticut who was just offered by Northwestern. Shovlin visited Evanston for a camp last summer and is interested in getting back to Northwestern this spring for a practice or official visit as he evaluates his recruitment.

@lou v and I break down Northwestern's recruitment of the Land of Lincoln for the Class of 2025.

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One of NU's finest, while he did have health issues wasn't expecting this.

Here is WildcatReport's recap and analysis of Fitzmorris' decision.

NU APR rating #3 for year 2022-2023 behind #1 Ohio State and #2 Alabama

@lou v and I break down Northwestern's recruitment of the Land of Lincoln for the Class of 2025.

Should be very beneficial for our Cats!

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Wide receiver Dube Enongene committed to Northwestern this evening, the second wide receiver in their current class. I talked to the Georgian about his trip, his bond with Georgia QB Marcus Romain and his fellow WR commit Braden Blueitt, and more.

Northwestern offered four-star OL Andrew Babalola last weekend. @lou v interviewed the Rivals100 tackle to see where the Wildcats stack up.

Good for VB.

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You’ve got to be kidding me. What a joke.

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Alexandra (Alex) Eschmeyer out of Colorado picks up an NU offer. I’m assuming that name is not a coincidence. Right?? Has an offer from CU as well. Class of 2025 prospect.

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Looks like the Cats have an 8th 2025 recruit in the mix. This one happens to be a big.

6’11” Tommy Ahnemam out of Fargo, ND. Recruiting interest has really taken off over the last couple weeks. Recent offers from Iowa, Minny, DePaul, Nebraska and PSU.

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Class of 2027 QB Matthew Brady from downstate Bloomington (Ill.) Central Catholic is going to camp at NU this month. He's also going to Ole Miss, Mizzou, Iowa, Iowa State and Indiana, and is considering others.

He's 6-foot-4 and 190 pounds already. He doesn't have any offers, but several suitors.

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Here's the story from Edgy:

Leo Almanza Jr has 10 offers to play cornerback, but Northwestern was the first to offer him as a wide receiver. Here's our story on the 2025 athlete and his recruitment by the Wildcats, so far.

How come my thread OSU thread about my dream in which NU defeated them by (a historic score) to zip didn't get a "not open for further replies" also?

From a Trib article:

Former Florida QB signee Jaden Rashada sues coach Billy Napier and others over failed $14 million NIL deal

Finally received an email with a link to ticket information. No mention of capacity but there is a basic seating diagram with prices and, of course, “contribution” as with basketball.

@lou v talked to RB Isaiah Groves about his official visit to Northwestern, the impact of NU’s facilities and more.

Ouch! Assistant coach Talor Battle leaves Northwestern for Ohio State.

He’s the older brother of star point guard Boo Buie, who also left Evanston after exhausting his eligibility.

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(If this has been posted elsewhere, my bad. Just got back from a trip.)

The Athletic had a piece on h.s. coaches anonymously rating college recruiting programs. Pretty high marks all around for Braun (and Fitz as well).

This quote in particular caught my eye:

Coach 6: Our relationship with the Northwestern staff was very strong before, and now it’s just in kind of that infancy stage with a lot of the new coaches. I’ve always said this: Northwestern is by the book more than any other program I’ll deal with in recruiting. Whether it’s Braun or Fitzgerald, they’re very good at following the rules, and I think they take a lot of pride in that. They’re the cleanest recruiting college that I’ve come across.