Last Season: 15-19 (5-15 Big Ten)
Preseason KenPom Rank: 89 (18th in Big Ten)
Head Coach: Chris Collins
Northwestern enters the 2026-27 season in reset mode under 14th-year head coach Chris Collins. The Wildcats finished 15-19 overall (5-15 Big Ten, 15th in the conference) in 2025-26, a clear step back after consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances in 2023 and 2024.
The defining story of the offseason was massive roster turnover. The glaring loss is Nick Martinelli—who led the Big Ten in scoring for the second straight year at 23.0 points per game, was selected 55th overall by the Los Angeles Clippers in the 2026 NBA Draft. Nine other players entered the transfer portal, leaving only three returners. Collins openly acknowledged shortcomings in roster construction the prior year, particularly around size and shooting. The Wildcats were dominated on the boards, ranking 332nd in the country in defensive rebound percentage. The portal addition of Arrinten Page did not work out (and he’s now on to Providence). They also struggled to shoot from deep, ranking just 232nd in the country in 3-point percentage.
Key Returners
- Jake West (sophomore, 6’3” G): The primary returning point guard. He averaged roughly 5.3 points and 2.8 assists overall, but closed the season strongly (around 9.6 points and 3.6 assists over the final stretch while shooting well from three). He will have the keys to the Wildcat offense and the season will depend on the jump he’s able to make in his sophomore campaign.
- Angelo Ciaravino (junior, 6’6” G): The lone returning upperclassman and a system veteran. Averaged about 6.3 points and 3.9 rebounds. Strong defender who can guard multiple positions; efficient around the rim but needs to improve his three-point volume and consistency. Needs to become a primary offensive weapon this season.
- Phoenix Gill (sophomore): Depth piece expected to contribute, particularly on the defensive end as his offensive game develops.
Newcomers and Transfers
Collins brought in eight transfers and freshmen to address the holes left by Martinelli and the portal departures. Notable additions include:
- Jack Karasinski (graduate, 6’7” F, Bellarmine via William & Mary): The headline transfer portal addition. Averaged 21.7 points and 4.7 rebounds on excellent efficiency (56.1% FG, 41.5% from three, high true shooting) as one of the nation’s top scorers in the Atlantic Sun. A versatile scorer who can operate off screens, in the mid-post, or from deep. Big step up in competition, but the production is proven. He is essential to the Northwestern offense this season.
- Okku Federiko (6’9” F/C, Drake): Length and versatility in the frontcourt. Rim protector with some offensive skill (including perimeter shooting attempts). He should help the Wildcats improve around the rim.
- Luke McEldon (6’10” C, Mount St. Mary’s): Productive low-post option who averaged double-digit points and solid rebounds at the mid-major level on high field-goal percentage. A better fit for Northwestern and another big body.
- Colin Smith (6’8″ graduate, UC Santa Barbara via Vanderbilt): forward who shot 40% from deep on about 3-4 attempts per game over the past two seasons at UC Santa Barbara.
- Aleksej Kostić (6’4″ G, BYU): Played 21 minutes in BYU’s first-round NCAA Tournament loss to Texas. He’s been a high volume 3-point shooter (2-7 in that tournament game).
- L.A. Pratt (6’5” G, Northeastern): Combo guard returning from a foot injury; expected to provide secondary playmaking and rim pressure. High usage guard, he’ll take some playmaking off Jake West’s shoulders and should flourish defensively with the Cats after averaging a career high 2.3 steals per game last season.
- Ryan Soulis (6’10” F, Columbia): More of a role player, but should help with the defensive rebounding and displayed a positive assist-to turnover ratio at Columbia last season (started 17 games).
- Other pieces: Additional frontcourt size (including true freshman 7’3” Szymon Ghai and 6’10” Elijah Eschmeyer) and wing depth such as Jayden Hodge (recovering from knee injury).
Projected starting lineup discussions often feature West, Ciaravino, Karasinski, a wing/forward like Smith, and Federiko or McEldon at center. The group has more size and shooting than last year’s version, though defensive switchability and cohesion will likely take some time.
Big Ten Outlook
Northwestern comes into the year ranked last in the Big Ten in KenPom, but they are clearly in the same area as Penn State, Rutgers, Oregon and Washington.
Schedule Snapshot
The Cats open up with Binghamton on November 2nd, the first test should be when they host an intriguing DePaul squad on November 13th. They’ll have two games in Charleston for the Charleston Classic (Virginia Tech and Dayton). They’ll have a semi-away game in Salt Lake City against BYU on December 5th as well. The early Big Ten games are vs Wisconsin on December 1st and at Michigan on December 13th. The west coast trip occurs in mid-January as the Cats head out to Washington and Oregon. Illinois, Minnesota and Indiana are the opponents Northwestern will see twice.
Outlook
There are a lot of unknowns for a team that lost a ton of production from last season. If the rim protection and shooting take a jump, the Cats could be in business but this is a conference that won’t be forgiving for a team still figuring itself out. KenPom projects Northwestern to finish 13-19 (5-15 Big Ten). There is a real possibility that it could be a rough season for the Cats but Chris Collins has outperformed expectations before in the Big Ten.