Collins: Northwestern Basketball Counting on 21 PPG Transfer This Season

Coach Chris Collins was originally known as a defense-first tactician upon his arrival to Evanston, Ill. to coach the Northwestern Wildcats, but his offensive coaching has taken center stage over the past few years.

Collins helped mold Brooks Barnhizer into a NBA Draft pick and contributor to the Oklahoma City Thunder and also helped develop Nick Martinelli into a back-to-back Big Ten scoring leader. 

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Collins and his staff went hunting for additional talent this offseason and found a high-scoring forward to follow in Barnhizer and Martinelli’s footsteps: Jack Karasinski, formerly of the Bellarmine Knights of the Atlantic Sun Conference. 

On Wednesday, Collins shared expectations of the high-scoring forward heading into his 12th season with the team and Karasinski’s first season with the ‘Cats. 

Bellarmine forward Jack Karasinski (32) screams after getting the foul by Jacksonville University guard Hayden Wood (8) during the first period in the ASUN men’s basketball tournament between Jacksonville and Bellarmine Wednesday March 4, 2026 at UNF Arena in Jacksonville, Fla. [Doug Engle/Florida Times-Union]

Karasinski, a 6-foot-7, 206 pound forward from Grand Rapids, Michigan, who played two seasons at William & Mary before transferring to Bellarmine and ending up at Northwestern.

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He committed to Collins’ program on April 14 of this year and quickly became a focal point of offseason training plans for the Wildcats, who are in search of more offense for this year’s team.

Karasinski fits the bill, scoring a career-best 21.7 points per game last season on over 56% shooting from the field and over 41% from three-point range. 

He is also an 80% free throw shooter but must improve his assist-to-turnover ratio (1.2 to 1.4) this season to become a front line college basketball player in the Big Ten.

Now wearing the number 32 jersey with the Wildcats, Karasinski called himself “versatile.” 

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“I would say I’m a versatile forward who can really shoot the…

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Publish date : 2026-08-20 21:00:00

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