BREAKING: NU lands 2025 big man Cade Bennerman

[CoralSpringsCat]

There's no way NU can lose a player like Buie AND be without its second best player, a returning all-conference performer, and have a strong season, that's for sure.

I felt the same way after Nance and Young transferred.

 

[TheC]

I felt the same way after Nance and Young transferred.

Right? The only thing predictable about NU sports is how incredibly unpredictable they are.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

I felt the same way after Nance and Young transferred.

I didn’t.

 

[ThatkidfromHolland]

I felt the same way after Nance and Young transferred.

Buie was for sure a top two player on that team.

 

[NUCat320]

@ThatkidfromHolland NU spent years recruiting PBJ and years recruiting Max Christie. PBJ knew he was NU’s top target his freshman year.

Ultimately, NU got a courtesy top three out of PBJ.

PBJ was a top five recruit, and a likely one and done. Christie was a top 25 recruit, and a possible one and done. NU hasn’t expended serious effort on those types of players since.

And frankly, both were talents but both were primarily jump shooters. As far as I can tell, none of the five are primarily jump shooters. Every team needs shooters, but shooting isn’t enough for Collins anymore.

 

[SmellyCat]

Couldn't agree more with TKFH.

It's possible - hear me out - that it seems like Collins has shifted his strategy when in actuality he can just get better players now because what he's selling to them is better. Who knows? Maybe PBJ or Christie comes here today when you can sell a tourney team, a good arena, good fans, and a coach not on the hot seat.

 

[SDakaGordie]

@ThatkidfromHolland NU spent years recruiting PBJ and years recruiting Max Christie. PBJ knew he was NU’s top target his freshman year.

Ultimately, NU got a courtesy top three out of PBJ.

PBJ was a top five recruit, and a likely one and done. Christie was a top 25 recruit, and a possible one and done. NU hasn’t expended serious effort on those types of players since.

And frankly, both were talents but both were primarily jump shooters. As far as I can tell, none of the five are primarily jump shooters. Every team needs shooters, but shooting isn’t enough for Collins anymore.

PBJ and Christie were special circumstances - offspring of NU alum. It’s obvious we should have gone after them.

 

[PurpleWhiteBoy]

People are making good, rational points - too many to respond to individually... but everything changed, some of it subtly, after the Gragg ultimatum and the subsequent arrival of Lowery.

Collins did his self-examination and publicly stated that he realized we needed to get tougher. Kopp, Beran and Nance were not tough. They all had nice outside shots and the ratings systems liked them. But two of those guys were prima donnas, relatively speaking.

NU lost Nance, Young, Ryan Greer, Elyjah Williams and Casey Simmons from that disappointing 2021-22 team and added Nick Martinelli and Ty Verhoeven (Hunger got injured early). All 5 of those departees were getting minutes ahead of Nicholson and Barnhizer. Nance was the best individual player on the team. And we got a lot better, not in scoring, but in WINNING, when the roster got chopped.

I give Collins credit for both modifying his approach to college basketball AND recruiting to better suit the reality of Northwestern. He stopped trying to do what he wished he could do (run up and down the court with 5-stars like Duke) and focused more sharply on recruiting two-way players who bought into the team concept and played defense. After all, he had already brought in Chase Audige and Barnhizer and even Luke Hunger, so he knew what toughness looked like, it just wasn't the focus prior to Lowery's hiring. And of course Gragg killed the 2023 class.

I think Coach Collins was a bit surprised by that 2022-23 team's success. Recall how he'd talk about how "imperfect" that team was.
Recall his pride after the rockfight with Auburn, when he noted how tough his team was.

Since the arrival of Lowery, I've heard things from Coach Collins that I don't recall hearing before...

"You have to have your best players on the court." (no more "I have 10 starters" talk)
"He was +20, I couldn't take him out" (obviously I love stuff like that)
"Matt really protects the rim." (Nicholson is a unicorn for Collins entire tenure at NU)

Collins has the program in a really good place. He has adapted and built it again. With his success, he may be able to start getting "better" players, but there may be lessons yet to learn about those guys chasing money - we'll see.

Regardless, I don't see NU worse than midpack this year in the Big Ten, with upside, unless injuries drag us down.