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Northwestern had quite the offseason. The transfer portal was incredibly active: nine departures and eight additions. Head coach Chris Collins also had a rather small recruiting class with only three first-years.
The lack of continuity has landed Collins’ squad in an identity crisis, evident in losses to Illinois State and No. 18 Iowa State in exhibition play.
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With all the changes from last year’s roster to this year’s rendition, it is hard to pinpoint how the ‘Cats will do this season and compare to the rest of the Big Ten. There are a variety of outcomes for Northwestern, and how those outcomes look are drastically different.
To really understand this, here’s a look at the ceiling and floor for Northwestern.
Ceiling: Double-digit conference wins, on the bubble of the NCAA Tournament
This may seem a bit bullish, but Northwestern has a good amount of talent on the squad.
Northwestern’s three returning players — sophomore guard Jake West, junior guard Angelo Ciaravino and sophomore guard Phoenix Gill, showed a good amount of promise last season
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If West can take the leap as the team’s first option and primary ball-handler, Northwestern will have someone to turn to in crunch time and a threat every team needs to focus on (like a Nick Martinelli from a season ago). Ciaravino will continue to be a do-it-all player while developing his jumper, while Gill can be NU’s spark plug off the bench.
Collins was able to bring in some solid talent through the portal to boot, including Jack Karasinski (Bellarmine), LA Pratt (Northeastern) and Luke McEldon (Mount St. Mary’s).
Karasinki is a bucket-getter, averaging 21.7 points per game last season as a three-level scorer. He scored 24 points in exhibition play and will consistently be looking to get his shot off.
Pratt is coming off a torn ACL he suffered last season, but before the injury, he looked incredibly strong, averaging 19.5 points and 4.5 assists. Pratt finding that groove again would mean the ‘Cats have one of…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/predicting-men-basketball-floor-ceiling-172322037.html
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Publish date : 2026-10-30 17:23:00
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