Coach Chris Collins loves the idea of four-year players.
“To me, there’s still value in the journey of a four-year journey,” he said.
Well, the four-year player model is dead, and Collins and Northwestern need to adapt.
Losing eight players, including three of the five freshmen that were part of NU’s highest recruiting class of the modern era, isn’t the best optically.
The quality of the players notwithstanding, which does mean something for a team that lost its first seven games of Big Ten play, eight players are a lot of bodies to replace. Four-star recruit Jayden Hodge and three-star recruit Symon Ghai bring that number down to six, but it remains a tall task for Collins.
Modern college basketball has become reliant on the transfer portal. Over half of Division I is in the transfer portal, which opened Tuesday at midnight. The portal reached nearly 1,700 players after just one day, according to Jeff Goodman of The Field of 68.
Gone are the days of Nick Martinelli, Brooks Barnhizer and Boo Buie, where NU’s program cornerstones were homegrown, four-year talent. All but one program that made the Sweet 16 started at least one transfer. National champion Michigan started five.
This downfall didn’t come out of nowhere. Including next season, the ’Cats have graduated two four-year seniors in that three-year stretch. The previous three-year stretch had seven.
If the ’Cats want to compete in the Big Ten and make March Madness again — as Collins has said he wants — he is going to have to use the transfer portal to his advantage and replace his top four scorers. As of Tuesday evening, no other Big Ten program has had more than five transfer departures, putting the ’Cats another leg behind after finishing 15th in the conference last season.
In the past, the transfer portal was often a place where players who lost their coaches found a new home, or where those who have had issues with their coaches or programs explore their options. Now, the portal has become a de facto free agency, and it’s on Collins and general manager Christian Sarkisian to pay up.
Michigan spent at least $10 million on its national championship roster, and it wasn’t alone. A report by On3’s Pete Nakos revealed that, of the teams that made the Sweet 16, just two spent below $8 million on their roster this past season.
It’s not just about the money; it’s about finding players that want to be Wildcats and buy into what Collins is selling, not ones who see NU as a stepping-stone program or a place to earn a check. Michigan did that, and it worked wonders for the Wolverines.
Former Cornell guard Jake Fiegen has NU as one of his four official visits this month, he told The Record North Shore. He would make sense as a target for the ’Cats because he has a connection to the area as a New Trier alum and Wilmette, Illinois native. While not the be-all, end-all, Fiegen would be a good start for this program given his 17.1 points per game last season.
Fiegen would also be an ideal mentor for freshman guard Jake West, one of the few remaining after Monday night’s transfer madness. Fiegen has experience navigating elite athletics at an academically challenging school and could provide the mentorship that is lacking on this new-look NU team.
College basketball is in a new world now, and the ’Cats better be prepared. If not, it’s going to be another long season in Evanston.
Sid Sivaraman contributed reporting.
Email: [email protected]
X: @YoniZacks
Related Stories:
— Men’s Basketball: Monday madness leaves just four returning players
— Men’s Basketball: Former 4-star recruit Tre Singleton plans to enter transfer portal
— Zacks: Northwestern men’s basketball is at a crossroads, something has to change
