Northwestern season preview: 11 newcomers reshape the roster

Where last season ended

Northwestern finished 2025-26 at 15-19 overall and 5-15 in the Big Ten, tied for 15th, according to Sports-Reference. The Wildcats did not reach the NCAA Tournament. As the 15th seed in the Big Ten Tournament, they beat Penn State 76-66 and Indiana 74-61, then lost 68-81 to Purdue in the third round on March 12, 2026. Chris Collins is the head coach, entering his 14th season.

Who is gone

Nick Martinelli, a second-team All-Big Ten selection in 2025-26, is not among the three returners Northwestern named at media day. Tre Singleton, whom Inside NU calls the highest-ranked recruit in modern school history, was the first player to commit elsewhere in the 2026 portal cycle, landing at Iowa State. The sources checked do not give a complete list of 2025-26 departures.

Who is back

Northwestern names three returners: Angelo Ciaravino, a junior guard, Jake West, a sophomore guard listed at 6-3, and Phoenix Gill, a sophomore. Collins leaned on West most, according to the school's media day release, which says West helped the Wildcats win five of their last seven games.

Who is new

Eight transfers join. Jack Karasinski, a graduate transfer from Bellarmine, leads the group, and the school says he was the 12th-highest scorer in Division I last season. Luke McEldon comes from Mount St. Mary's, Collin Smith from UC Santa Barbara, LA Pratt from Northeastern, Okku Federiko from Drake, Aleksej Kostić from BYU, Ryan Soulis from Columbia and Dylan Williams from Penn. Pratt missed most of last season with a broken foot, according to Inside NU.

The freshman class is listed below.

Incoming freshmen

Northwestern adds three freshmen, all listed as first-years on the roster. The class is small next to eight transfers. Symon Ghai, listed at 7-3, adds the most size.

• Jayden Hodge, guard, 6-7, Montverde Academy, Montverde, Fla. (No. 26 small forward in the country, per 247Sports)
• Symon Ghai, center, 7-3, The Academy of Central Florida, Orlando, Fla.
• Elijah Eschmeyer, forward, 6-7, Peak to Peak Charter School, Boulder, Colo.

The number to know

The number to know is scoring margin per game, which is points scored minus points allowed, averaged over games. In 2025-26, Northwestern averaged 73.1 points and allowed 72.0, a margin of +1.1, according to Sports-Reference. The average covers all 34 games on the season record. It shows the average gap in a season. It does not show pace, the quality of opponents, or which games were close, so it is a summary, not a diagnosis.

Questions for this season

Can 11 newcomers build a team identity quickly? Collins said the new-look roster will need time to find its identity, according to the school's media day coverage.

Does Karasinski's scoring carry over? The school says he was the 12th-highest scorer in Division I last season. The sources do not show how that scoring will translate to Big Ten defenses.

Who replaces Martinelli's scoring and playmaking? Northwestern says Collins expects a more balanced attack that does not center on one player.

Our early read

Our tier is Rebuilding year (14th-18th). This is our opinion, not a sourced ranking. Northwestern's scoring margin was barely positive, only three players return, and eleven are new. The Wildcats could improve on last season if the transfers adjust quickly, but a rebuild looks more likely than a jump. We project the Wildcats 16th.