The spring window for the college basketball transfer portal officially closed yesterday, so it’s a good time to look back on what the Wildcats added and subtracted, and where they stand headed into the summer.
The Wildcats began the spring transfer window on March 18 with three clear needs. They wanted to pick up a couple ballhandling guards to defray the losses of Boo Buie and Ryan Langborg, as well as another big to replace the departed Blake Preston.
Six weeks later, they ended up with two of three, landing guard Jalen Leach out of Fairfield and 7-foot big man Keenan Fitzmorris from Stony Brook and, before that, Stanford.
Their only loss to the portal was freshman point guard Parker Strauss, an unknown commodity who redshirted last season and didn’t play. He committed to California-Riverside on April 21.
Northwestern may not be quite finished with their portal moves: May 1 was the deadline for players to enter the portal, but those already in may still sign with other teams at any time. The Wildcats could still add to their roster, but nothing appears imminent and, at this point, all available players are already out there.
Here are three takeaways from the spring window:
Northwestern isn’t desperate to make any more moves: Northwestern was stung when former Stetson guard Jalen Blackmon chose Miami after taking official visits to both schools. The Wildcats may have offered the better landing spot from purely a basketball standpoint, but it appears that the Hurricanes’ NIL dollars won out. Blackmon would have given the Wildcats another combo guard who could handle the ball, or play off of it as a shooting guard.
The program could still add another player, but they feel confident that their current roster can win as it is currently constructed and won’t add a player just to fill a scholarship. The immediate benefactor could be Blake Smith, who emerged as a valuable player last season as a walkon and could be in line for a scholarship.
Right now, their starting five looks to be Leach, Ty Berry and Brooks Barnhizer at guard, Nick Martinelli at wing and Matt Nicholson at center.
Lacking a true point guard who can play full time with the ball in his hands, Northwestern will use a lead-guard-by-committee approach to replace Buie, the program’s all-time leading scorer and arguably its best player of all time. Leach, Brooks Barnhizer and Ty Berry will give them three guards in the starting lineup who can handle the ball. In addition, they will have Jordan Clayton off the bench.
While the Wildcats would have liked to add one more ballhandler, they feel like those four will be enough to get by. The staff always figured they would use a committee approach to replace Buie – the committee is just one player short of where they hoped to be.
The Cats are in good shape in the Bigs Department: The Wildcats really like what Fitzmorris brings to the lineup in what will be his seventh year of college basketball (four at Stanford and two at Stony Brook). He’s a legit 7-footer who offers something they didn’t really have the last two years: a post-up game. He has some crafty footwork in the post – think of Ryan Young, but bigger and more athletic.
Northwestern’s experience in the portal with bigs has been hit-and-miss. Two years ago, Tydus Verhoeven was a perfect fit who gave them a strong presence defensively but almost nothing on the offensive end. Last season, Preston was largely a disappointment on both ends of the floor and was relegated to the bench before Nicholson went down with an injury late in the year. With Fitzmorris, they think they have someone who can contribute on both ends.
It will be interesting to see how the rotation works out at center. Nicholson, the incumbent two-year starter, is recovering from a foot injury, which is always troubling for a big man. Luke Hunger showed what he can do in the NCAA Tournament, when he put up 14 points, 15 rebounds and six assists in the two games combined. Then, there’s Fitzmorris, who nearly doubled Nicholson’s scoring average with 10.9 points per game, along with 4.4 rebounds per game, though those numbers figure to be tempered as he moves up a level.
Don’t be surprised if Fitzmorris challenges Nicholson for the starting job next season, at least in the beginning of the year as the Wildcats’ fifth-year grad eases back into the lineup.
Players need to step up: If Northwestern doesn’t get that one more guard, players will have to step up.
The most obvious one is Clayton. He may not have been ready to play the minutes he did last season as a freshman and it showed, as he shot an abysmal 17.4% from the floor and had a 1:1 assist-to-turnover ratio. Clayton will need to develop into a reliable point guard off the bench and, at the very least, be someone they can depend on to fill critical minutes when one of the starting guards needs a rest, gets injured or gets in foul trouble.
Many people both inside and outside of the program were somewhat surprised that Justin Mullins didn’t enter the transfer portal after what can only be seen as a rocky first year in Evanston. The University of Denver transfer was seen at the start of the year as a slasher who could bring some athleticism to the lineup. Instead, he averaged just 5.2 minutes per game and was surpassed on the depth chart by Smith. Will he use last year’s disappointment as fuel to become a contributor next season?
Of the two freshman guards coming in, Angelo Ciaravino may be seen as a bit more of a project, but don’t be surprised if KJ Windham earns some rotational minutes next season. He’s an impressive athlete who scored 15.4 points per game and led Indianapolis (Ind.) Ben Davis to the state title game this season, falling just short in their bid for a repeat.
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