Northwestern men’s basketball expanded its depth Friday, adding former Northeastern and Elon guard LA Pratt. Pratt announced the move on Instagram just hours after the Wildcats signed former UC Santa Barbara forward Colin Smith.
He is the Wildcats’ first guard transfer of the offseason, joining forward transfers Jack Karasinski, Luke McEldon and Smith, who have all signed with NU since Tuesday.
The Columbus, Ohio, native brings one year of eligibility to Evanston after medical redshirting this past season.
Pratt faced the ’Cats at Welsh-Ryan Arena in 2024, scoring a team-high 18 points on 8-for-12 shooting as well as tallying seven rebounds and four assists in the loss.
In the Huskies’ home opener against Boston University this season, Pratt tallied a career-high 26 points while going 10-for-19 from the field. However, he would play just one and a half more games before breaking his foot in a game against Harvard.
Pratt played all but three minutes and led the team in points over those first two games. In 2024-25, his last full season, he averaged 11.2 points while shooting 54.1% from inside the arc, ranking fifth and fourth on the Huskies, respectively.
Standing at 6-foot-5, Pratt joins freshmen Phoenix Gill and Jake West and sophomore Angelo Ciaravino as the only four guards listed on next season’s roster. This season, NU had more than double that, with nine.
For coach Chris Collins, that meant he had to adapt his coaching style.
“I’m a big proponent of, every team is new,” Collins said after the ’Cats’ exhibition loss to Iowa State. “There’s a certain way that I’d love to play, but sometimes your team doesn’t fit that.”
Now, with a new-look team, Collins might have to adapt again.
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Related Stories:
— Northwestern adds former UC Santa Barbara forward Colin Smith to transfer haul
— Former Mount St. Mary’s forward Luke McEldon commits to Northwestern
— Former Bellarmine forward Jack Karasinski commits to Northwestern
