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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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.
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
Jaden Forsythe
Phoenix Gill
Josiah Sanders
Simon Walker
BIGS
Cade Bennerman
Brady Koehler
