2025 Transfer Class

[UpsetAlert]

I am a casual fan who was in favor of firing Collins. I was wrong, and I believe you are about the statement above. Do you remember Martinelli as a frosh? Total clown feet. Boo as a Frosh? Chase his first year here? Need a longer list?

Right. Not sure where these arguments are heading. Show me a non-top 50 true freshman at a developmental program like NU who is all big ten worthy when he steps foot on campus. Doesn’t mean they don’t have talent. Just means they need to develop it. Coaching is a part of it, as are factors like player desire and culture.

 

[SDakaGordie]

I guess I just disagree with the immediate agenda. I don’t consider 20 wins and the second weekend to be some pie-in-the-sky daydream on a rainy day, or even that big of a step from where we currently sit. I think often this board erroneously attributes our success to scrappers being coached up rather than a B10 level of talent existing on the roster, playing to the level of their ability.

I know we aren’t a blue blood, but there aren’t many excuses left as to why we couldn’t be. Academics or admissions are bollocks excuses - plenty of good players out there with good grades. Exclusivity should be a feature, not a bug.

I gave two or maybe three reasons (not excuses) above. The reality is - have any objective third party look at our roster in person and compare it to a normal high-level D1 team; we look overmatched. We are in no way near the level of athlete other teams are, yet we still compete really well. Some of it is a base of talent and some of it is playing smarter (at least we would think we have that advantage), but that only gets you so far. Our coaches prepare these kids extremely well.

 

[ThatkidfromHolland]

I guess I just disagree with the immediate agenda. I don’t consider 20 wins and the second weekend to be some pie-in-the-sky daydream on a rainy day, or even that big of a step from where we currently sit. I think often this board erroneously attributes our success to scrappers being coached up rather than a B10 level of talent existing on the roster, playing to the level of their ability.

I know we aren’t a blue blood, but there aren’t many excuses left as to why we couldn’t be. Academics or admissions are bollocks excuses - plenty of good players out there with good grades. Exclusivity should be a feature, not a bug.

On paper, this roster isn’t at that level yet. That said, there are some high-ceiling additions, and Martinelli is serious, proven talent. Next year should be full of flashes and Martinelli pulling some magic out of nowhere to steal a few wins. The last two recruiting classes have brought in some potentially really good players, and a lot of the roster gaps were filled with transfers who have some upside themselves. Potential is just unrealized production and there’s a lot of it here.

The core of the last couple tournament teams has graduated, and now it’s time to retool. These last two recruiting classes, combined with the transfers, have added a lot to be excited about. It’s not really fair to expect a team this young to make a deep tournament run right away, but NU is clearly building toward that in the next 1–2 years. Missing almost completely on a class or two really makes it tough to string together tournament teams.

Obviously, glass half full: Martinelli is legit, and if KJ steps up , along with Page, Mullins, Gelo or someone else…. this team could make some noise. Add some varying depth from various underclassmen and you have your team. It’s just asking for a lot of things to break right.

NU hasn’t really ever had a top tier B1G talented roster top to bottom before. The closest I thought was upper third during 23-24 run. That team had a shot at sweet 16 pre-injuries. The rest have been middle of the pack or worse. There has been some seriously good coaching from this staff. There has been players who put in the work and bought in as well.