ROSEMONT – Football season is dominating the mainstream, but Big Ten basketball coaches gathered in Rosemont on Wednesday and Thursday to look ahead at the madness to come.
The Big Ten hosted its media days in Rosemont, where reporters got a chance to get a glimpse of Northwestern and Illinois’ programs.
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Here’s what we learned from Big Ten Basketball Media Days.
Northwestern
The Wildcats had a tough year.
They were lined up to take another run at an NCAA Tournament. A third consecutive tournament berth would have solidified the ‘Cats as a perennial postseason player, something the program had never been before Chris Collins was able to settle in as head coach.
Instead, NU suffered season-ending injuries to Brooks Barnhizer and Jalen Leach. That took away the team’s best player and the team’s starting point guard. It forced the team to play underclassmen, tossing younger players into the fire.
Collins was visibly emotional after some of these losses. Still, his duties as a head coach didn’t let him take some time away from it all until August. After a brief reprieve, he’s ready for the 2025-2026 season.
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“I feel great now. I’m recharged, I’m refreshed,” Collins said. “I’m ready to roll.”
What that’s going to look like is still to be determined. That’s by design.
After seeing what he had in his underclassmen last season, Collins signed arguably his best recruiting class of his tenure. Four-star power forward Tre Singleton leads the group, followed by fellow forward Tyler Kropp and Cade Bennerman. The ‘Cats also signed guards Phoenix Gill and Jake West.
Fold in the incoming transfers Arrinten Page, Jayden Reid and Max Green, and Northwestern can put together so many different lineups.
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The only confirmed starting player is Nick Martinelli.
“We’re playing around with stuff every day,” Collins said. “I’m not really a position-based coach. I mean, what position was Brooks Barnheiser, right? What position is Nick? I mean, I don’t think Trey Singleton has a position. He’s a do-it-all kind of player.”
The ‘Cats are still young. KJ Windham, Angelo Ciaravelli and Jordan Clayton were freshmen last year. If Northwestern wants to win some games in the Big Ten, that group needs to marry experiences from its freshmen seasons with the work they’ve done this offseason.
Collins isn’t afraid to play small-ball with this group. He’s not afraid to throw two point guards out there at the same time. He noted he won as an assistant at Duke with Chris Duhon and Jason Williams both playing at the same time.
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Positions don’t matter to Collins. With his most talented class of players incoming and a crop of transfers handpicked to assist those players, Collins just wants to see the talent shine.
“I’m less worried about who the point is and who is,” Collins said. “I just want guys that can all pass, handle, shoot and that can make plays.”
About Chris Collins
This offseason, Northwestern’s fearless leader was faced with a fork in the road.
Collins could stay at Northwestern, build another core of players that take the team to multiple NCAA Tournaments just as he did before. Or, he could write a different chapter in his career.
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Northwestern was able to lock Collins down with a contract extension. Collins did say he eventually came to the conclusion he wasn’t ready to go anywhere else.
“I kind of feel like the program is kind of my baby,” Collins said. “It wasn’t something that I was ready to leave.”
This was also the first time Collins alluded to leaving his post in Evanston. The rumors were that Villanova was pursuing him for the head basketball coach vacancy. That would have been a step up for Collins. Villanova has won multiple championships, has a flush of basketball resources and was in the Final Four as recently as 2022.
Getting Collins to remain in Evanston is a reflection of Director of Athletics Mark Jackson and his ability to communicate his vision for the future of Northwestern athletics. It’s also a reflection of how much Collins loves Evanston.
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He’s already the best basketball coach in Northwestern history. The chance to build on that was what stuck with him.
“I’ve always tried to do self-reflection about where the program was, where I was at individually, what’s going on with my family, everything that’s going on,” Collins said. “You kind of have those discussions to see, am I still happy, still where I want to be? Am I still hungry about what I’m doing? A lot of my life has changed, l’m an empty nester. you start to think about what your goals are, what you want to do. And honestly, at the end of the day, the legacy piece means so much to me.”
Illinois
The Illini had a young team last season. That inexperience hurt the team in the NCAA Tournament.
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Head coach Brad Underwood noted the Kentucky team that beat Illinois had Koby Brea, who had more NCAA Tournament games under his belt as an individual than the Illini did as a team.
This year, Illinois made the necessary additions to solve that inexperience issue.
“It’s different when a coach says something than when a player says something,” Underwood said. “It’s much more impactful when it comes from a player. Hey, this is what’s coming. This is what’s is what practice is going to be like.”
After losing Kasparas Jakucionis and Will Riley to the NBA Draft, as well as Morez Johnson Jr. to the transfer portal, Underwood looked East to fill those spots on his roster. He recruited the “Balkan Boys” as social media likes to call them.
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Incoming to Champaign: David Mirkovic, Zvonimir Ivisic, Andrej Stojakovic and Mihailo Petrovic. Stojakovic and Ivisic come from Cal-Berkley and Arkansas, respectively. They all bring experience both at the college level and at the international level.
The international players bring their own style, as well as their own habits, to the team.
That’s something the players have reveled in.
“One of the unique idiosyncrasies for them is they love their music,” Illini forward Ben Humrichous said. “Our aux is so different than it was a year ago, and so it’s like it’s fun to us all the different types of cultures and musics that we have, all the different music that we’ve listened to over the last few months.”
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On the court, those habits and styles lend to a level of play that’s beyond an incoming freshman from high school.
International players playing under FIBA rules are used to a more physical game. That doesn’t apply at the NCAA level. The team also has an experienced coaching staff and leadership in place.
Kylan Boswell commands this team. Fellow players like Humrichous, Jake Davis, Tommy Ivisic and others who played for the Illini last year know what to expect. Expect Boswell’s voice to be the loudest as a player who has played in a lot of basketball games and took the starting point guard role last year.
That leadership voice is something Underwood needs.
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“I say it all the time: if I have to lead and coach, we’re not going to be very good,” Underwood said. “Now, we’ve got players that understand it all, and they’re helping those young guys. When it comes from your peers, it’s pretty cool.”
