I fully understand if some of you are not on board with me on some of the below (and I apologize for the length), but I thought it might make an interesting conversation topic anyway.
At this time three years ago, I wouldn't say all hope was lost, but I don't think anyone thought NU would be a strong contender (let alone second place) in 2022-2023. Yet it happened!
Now we're in 2025, and Barnhizer, Berry, Nicholson et al are gone, and many are expecting the next year to be a rebuilding year. I do. But then I looked at the rosters three years ago and now and maybe, just maybe, this team can contend if the right people step up like they did three years ago. Here's a little chart I put together.
The first column is all players who averaged 10 or more minutes in 2022-2023, our breakthrough season. The second column are his stats the year before that season and the third column is the jump up he had the following season. For example, Barnhizer and Nicholson were practically non-entities at this time and then in 2023 they helped lead NU to the tourney.
The fourth column is the guy who could become the 2022-2023 player with similar jumps, and the fifth column are his stats for the year just concluded.
I will freely admit not all of these player comparisons are perfect. Right off the bat I don't think Windham will become Boo Buie, but he has the swagger/confidence to become a star, and soon, and he'll have a little help, as I'll mention later. Reid/Audige might be a little closer. Sure Reid's small, but he's supposedly a good defender and is not afraid to shoot (sound familiar?). I thought about putting Mullins in that spot, but his numbers were so similar to Roper's I had to put him there instead.
Green could easily become what Berry was for that tourney team, and he's already far surpassed him as a freshman (albeit not in the Big Ten of course). I've been thinking of Jello/Barnhizer comparisons since I first saw Jello. He has a long way to go to be as good as Barnhizer was that year, but considering Barnhizer made the leap, is it that crazy to think Jello putting in the hours to become a leader of this team is possible?
Feel free to pick apart the rest. I think Singleton will surpass the old Martinelli in his first year, which should help narrow the gap created by replacing Boo with Windham.
And what about Martinelli, you say? He's not even in the fourth column! That's because there really WASN'T anybody on the older teams like what he is now. He will narrow that aforementioned gap considerably.
Look, I'm not saying this is a 20-win team for sure. A lot has to go right and we have to count on the growth of several players, good health, and that the transfers can perform in the Big Ten. But when you consider where we were three years ago and what we have now, you CAN see some things to get excited about.
At this time three years ago, I wouldn't say all hope was lost, but I don't think anyone thought NU would be a strong contender (let alone second place) in 2022-2023. Yet it happened!
Now we're in 2025, and Barnhizer, Berry, Nicholson et al are gone, and many are expecting the next year to be a rebuilding year. I do. But then I looked at the rosters three years ago and now and maybe, just maybe, this team can contend if the right people step up like they did three years ago. Here's a little chart I put together.
| 2022-2023 | 2021-22 mpg, ppg, rpg, apg | 2022-23 mpg, ppg, rpg, apg | 2025-26? | 2024-25 mpg, ppg, rpg, apg |
| Boo Buie | 29.5, 14.1, 2.5, 4.3 | 34.9, 17.3, 3.4, 4.5 | KJ Windham | 16.8, 5.6, 1.1, 2.0 |
| Chase Audige | 26.8, 9.8, 4.2, 1.9 | 34.4, 14.1, 3.4, 2.9 | Jayden Reid | 29.2, 12.6, 2.6, 3.6 (South Florida) |
| Ty Berry | 22.1, 7.4, 2.3, 1.1 | 28.3, 8.5, 4.8, 1.1 | Max Green | 34.4, 14.9, 5.6, 3.5 (Holy Cross) |
| Brooks Barnhizer | 7.5, 1.7, 0.7, 1.0 | 24.3, 7.6, 4.9, 1.1 | Angelo Ciavarino | 11.2, 3.1, 1.8, 0.5 |
| Robbie Beran | 21.9, 6.4, 4.3, 0.6 | 25.7, 7.5, 4.5, 0.6 | Jordan Clayton | 20.7, 4.7, 2.5, 0.7 |
| Matt Nicholson | 4.4, 1.8, 1.3, 0.3 | 21.0, 6.3, 5.4, 1.2 | Arrinten Page (assuming he's coming) | 9.1, 3.5, 2.3, 0.4 (Cincinnati) |
| Julian Roper | 20.2, 4.0, 3.4, 1.0 | 21.4, 4.4, 3.7, 1.1 | Justin Mullins | 22.3, 4.4, 3.3, 1.4 |
| Nick Martinelli | High School | 10.1, 2.6, 1.5, 0.3 | Tre Singleton | High School |
| Tydus Verhoeven | 25.2, 6.6, 3.1, 4.6 (UTEP) | 15.8, 2.4, 2.6, 0.7 | Cade Bennerman | High School |
The first column is all players who averaged 10 or more minutes in 2022-2023, our breakthrough season. The second column are his stats the year before that season and the third column is the jump up he had the following season. For example, Barnhizer and Nicholson were practically non-entities at this time and then in 2023 they helped lead NU to the tourney.
The fourth column is the guy who could become the 2022-2023 player with similar jumps, and the fifth column are his stats for the year just concluded.
I will freely admit not all of these player comparisons are perfect. Right off the bat I don't think Windham will become Boo Buie, but he has the swagger/confidence to become a star, and soon, and he'll have a little help, as I'll mention later. Reid/Audige might be a little closer. Sure Reid's small, but he's supposedly a good defender and is not afraid to shoot (sound familiar?). I thought about putting Mullins in that spot, but his numbers were so similar to Roper's I had to put him there instead.
Green could easily become what Berry was for that tourney team, and he's already far surpassed him as a freshman (albeit not in the Big Ten of course). I've been thinking of Jello/Barnhizer comparisons since I first saw Jello. He has a long way to go to be as good as Barnhizer was that year, but considering Barnhizer made the leap, is it that crazy to think Jello putting in the hours to become a leader of this team is possible?
Feel free to pick apart the rest. I think Singleton will surpass the old Martinelli in his first year, which should help narrow the gap created by replacing Boo with Windham.
And what about Martinelli, you say? He's not even in the fourth column! That's because there really WASN'T anybody on the older teams like what he is now. He will narrow that aforementioned gap considerably.
Look, I'm not saying this is a 20-win team for sure. A lot has to go right and we have to count on the growth of several players, good health, and that the transfers can perform in the Big Ten. But when you consider where we were three years ago and what we have now, you CAN see some things to get excited about.
