As the curtain closes on Michael Thompson’s record-breaking career, Northwestern’s consummate captain is suffering from an uncharacteristic bout of stage fright.
The practice before Thompson takes to the Welsh-Ryan hardwood for his final home game Wednesday night, the Wildcats’ point guard, who has been assertively calling the shots – and making them – for four seasons, was feeling, well, ambivalent.
“I’m actually really nervous,” Thompson said. “I’m a little sad. But I’m also happy to have been a part of this team. I’m just not sure how to feel or what to expect.”
It’s a little easier to predict the sort of pageantry that will take place when NU honors its four seniors Wednesday night prior to taking on Minnesota in its final regular season conference game. Though redshirt seniors Jeff Ryan and Ivan Peljusic and senior Mike Capocci will all be honored, the attention will be on NU’s 5-foot-10-inch Iron Man as the Cats look to improve their NIT hopes.
“Juice is the heart of this team,” Capocci said. “He’s had the ball in his hands since the first day he walked in.”
Thompson, affectionately nicknamed ‘Juice,’ has started every game since he came to NU as one of the most highly touted recruits in program history. In terms of recruits, the Chicago native is perhaps only eclipsed in prestige by this year’s newest addition, JerShon Cobb.
During Thompson’s first season, NU managed just one conference win and the Cats were once again relegated to the role of postseason wallflowers. But over the course of the next two seasons Thompson made significant headway on his goal of helping NU score its first-ever invite to the Big Dance, leading the Cats to two-consecutive NIT appearances. With Thompson running the backcourt show, NU combined for a back-to-back season high of 37 wins in the two seasons leading up to the 2010-11 campaign.
“They way people look at Northwestern basketball has completely changed,” Thompson said. “We’re more of a winning program now. We’re playing tougher non-conference games and people expect more from us, and that’s a good thing.”
If there was a season to make the Tourney, this should have been the one. Despite the unexpected departure of star forward Kevin Coble, Carmody and Thompson alike said that this was the right team at the right time: a good balance of experienced veterans and younger talent like Cobb and sophomore forward Drew Crawford.
The offensive trifecta of Thompson, Crawford and NU’s leading scorer, junior forward John Shurna, had the makings of a powerhouse. What no one forecasted was that Shurna would suffer a high ankle sprain and a concussion that would affect his productivity for most of the conference season. Crawford’s performance, though far from a sophomore slump, was not immune to streakiness.
Needless to say, NU’s season has not gone according to plan. Especially not Thompson’s plan. NU dropped its first three Big Ten games to ranked opponents and will likely finish the season ninth in the Big Ten, having beaten just one ranked opponent in Illinois. Thompson led the Cats in the home win over the Illini, racking up a team-high 22 points.
“We had a tough run at the beginning,” Thompson said. “But when we beat Illinois, that was a great moment. We’re just trying to close out strong.”
NU’s only real shot at qualifying for the NCAA Tournament is to win the Big Ten Tournament in Indiana next week. The Cats will face the Golden Gophers in the first round match of the tournament if Minnesota loses Wednesday or against Penn State on Sunday.
Most likely, a win for NU on Wednesday will contribute to the Cats’ NIT profile.
“This is not what he wanted,” Carmody said. “I can tell you that. So he’s been coming to my office lately and I’ve just been telling him, ‘look, you’ve got to stay with it and push through and finish this out the right way.'”
Not that Thompson has shown any signs of resignation.
Against Indiana on Feb. 19, he posted a game-high 22 points and went a perfect 11-for-11 from the free throw line. He is still averaging a career-high 14.8 points per game and will finish his career first in assists, minutes played, games played and games started on the NU record books.
“Coach Carmody trusted me from the beginning,” Thompson said. “I will always appreciate that.”
