When Northwestern opens its season by hosting Northern Illinois on Friday, home fans will get their first look at the team’s newest players, Drew Crawford and Alex Marcotullio, two of the highest rated recruits in recent school history.
Crawford, the more touted of the two and a likely starter, received a fair amount of local acclaim – rated No. 3 prospect in the state of Illinois by City/Suburban Hoops Report – but both guards have been rated well by Scouts Inc., ESPN’s recruiting service. Marcotullio was graded as an 87 and Crawford as an 89, which Scouts Inc. defines as Mid-major plus prospect: A player who could contribute for three or four years at a high-major program or have a significant impact as a freshman at a mid-major program.
It is tough to say whether the highly rated players are a definite sign NU is headed in the right direction with its recruits. Only one of last year’s recruits, Nick Fruendt, was comparably rated to the freshman guards, but he averaged less than two minutes per game and scored four points all season.
On the other hand, sophomore John Shurna, who was rated an 82, has proven he is a contributor for the Cats. The 6-foot-7 forward dropped 21 points in an exhibition against Robert Morris.
It goes to show how difficult it is to get a handle on recruiting and, once you think your program has got the hang of it, how much harder it is to get the results you’re looking for – especially when it is a program trying to make major strides, like NU.
In addition to the nuisance of variable and unpredictable talent, there are players who do not fit the program’s paradigm: an athlete with academic commitment. NU has always imposed its own academic requirements on potential players, whittling down the number of possible targets that can help lift the program.
“Sometimes we have to pass on talent, but it’s usually for people who are thinking, ‘It’s the NBA or bust,'” said fourth-year assistant coach Tavaras Hardy. “When you look at the competition you play against, the conference that we play in, the national schedule that we play, the exposure with the Chicago media markets – you’ve got the tools here.”
The program is willing to forgo some gifted players, but sacrificing anything else is almost out of the question. College basketball has a history of crooked practices and savvy coaches who groove through loopholes in the recruiting system, à la ex-Indiana coach Kelvin Sampson.
But after years of suffering because of high academic standards – a recruiting handicap – the Cats’ coaching staff has found a way to get better results, while continuing to preach its message.
“We’re involved with the best players in the country in the upcoming classes,” Hardy said. “You don’t want to shy away from the academic reputation here because I think that’s what makes us special. But at the same time you want to compete and win championships. We’re in the process of building a program that is capable of doing that and not having to sacrifice (our) values.”
The hearts of Chicago basketball, the city’s South and West sides, remain a challenge for their neighbor up north. NU has had more success in the greater Chicagoland area – a region where nine of the team’s 15 players call home. Still, thanks to last year’s near-NCAA berth, the trickling success of NU is starting to draw a solid stream of talent.
“Winning solves a lot when it comes down to it,” Hardy said. “Alex (Marcotullio) and Drew (Crawford) had to see that there is an opportunity to win and that’s what’s helping us with recruiting going forward.”
Junior point guard Michael Thompson supported these sentiments. Thompson said getting to the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) last year might be the first step in attracting the often out-of-reach talent in the Chicago Public League.
“Nowadays, high school athletes in Chicago see Northwestern as a program that’s on the rise,” he said.
While there are nationally recruited players starting to wear purple and inner city athletes starting to think more about a trip to Evanston, there are still plenty of rocks to turn over for NU’s coaching staff.
Big Ten country remains a fruitful place to find hardwood heroes, as evidenced by last year’s NCAA Tournament participants and their hometowns. Of the 921 players on last year’s rosters, 216 of them – or 23.5 percent – were from Big Ten states. Ohio stands out, with 49 players calling the Buckeye State home.
Coach Hardy admitted the staff needs to do a better job plucking players from neighboring states, but said the program is developing rapidly, leading to a possible full-bloom this season.
NU returns four of its five starters from last year, beat the conference’s top two teams – Michigan State and Purdue – on the road last year and brought in a bumper crop of freshman. As a result, Hardy is confident NU will see results in 2009-10.
“We should be competing for a Big Ten championship this year,” Hardy said, before immediately qualifying this statement by settling for a sixth-place finish. “Finishing in that top six is doable and it would be a big deal here. It will help us on so many levels … We have the potential to be a big time program this year.” [email protected]
