Who is he?
Senior; forward; 6-foot-7; from Glenview, Illinois.
2024-25 Stats
33 games, 33 starts, 37.6 minutes per game, 20.5 points, 6.2 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 0.7 steals, 47.1% FG, 33.3% 3PT, 72.8% FT
2024-25 Review
Martinelli started the season as one of the strongest players on Northwestern’s squad. He ended up finishing as arguably the best player in the entire conference.
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The Big Ten’s leading scorer took advantage of a more prominent role following Boo Buie’s departure by dazzling Wildcat fans with consistent offensive onslaughts and plenty of iconic moments.
When you keyword search the phrase “first” on Martinelli’s game notes from last season, the word pops up 27 times — indicating the amount of instances where he either broke a record or achieved a milestone. The most prominent was shattering NU’s single-season point and field goal school records, posting 676 points and 251 made field goals.
While averaging a top-1o nationwide 20.5 points per game on 47.1% shooting, Martinelli also played the most minutes per game in the conference. He was Northwestern’s showstopper and oftentimes the best player on the court.
Martinelli’s opening night foreshadowed his success he would have last season — 26 points on 9-of-12 shooting against Lehigh, including completely outscoring the entire Mountain Hawks squad with 17 first-half points. He followed that performance with a career-high 32 points and 14 rebounds against Dayton, becoming the first Wildcat to score 30+ points on 75%+ shooting since Drew Crawford in 2011. The season was one week old, and Martinelli had already earned his first-ever Big Ten Player of the Week honor for becoming the conferences’ first player with 25+ points and 10+ rebounds in the first two games of a season.
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As the season progressed, Martinelli continued to light up the stat sheet and elevated his performance in the brightest moments of the season. An example was his 27 points, six rebounds and two blocks in a thrilling overtime win against No. 19 Illinois. One month later, Martinelli followed a 27-point and two-steal outing against Michigan with one of his most memorable feats as a Wildcat — knocking down an overtime buzzer-beater winner against Maryland. Despite Martinelli not scoring at the same level that game, the shot put him on the map as more then just a scorer, but someone who could deliver in the clutch.
Martinelli cemented that title with another game winning shot against USC, where he also recorded a double-double with 27 points and 13 rebounds, including 10 offensive boards. His status as an effective rebounder permeated throughout the rest of the winter, as he registered a second-straight double-double following his USC appearance and frequently accompanied double-digit scoring performances with board after board. His defense also improved throughout the year and was best on display in his three-steal performance against Nebraska.
Martinelli’s strongest Big Ten performance came against Minnesota — a conference career-high 29 points that eclipsed a mark not broken by a Wildcat since John Shurna in 2012. His dominance persisted until the season’s end: a 28-point outing with 11-of-11 free throw shooting in the season finale against No. 13 Maryland, and a combined 50 points in his two Big Ten tournament performances — where he also became the 43rd player in school history to reach 1000 points.
These outings punctuated Martinelli’s 15+ point outings in 18 straight games to end the season, the current longest streak in the country among high-major teams. It was a season of sustained prowess for a great player turned Wildcat superstar. Head coach Chris Collins summed it up best in March.
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“If you don’t see that Nick Martinelli is one of the very best players in this league, then I don’t know what you’re watching.”
Strengths
Martinelli’s historic offensive season was a product of many things. Being more involved in the offense enabled him to play a role as a playmaker as opposed to simply a shot-up shooter. Martinelli’s action in triple threat, as well as his excellent one-on-one game, makes him uniquely difficult to guard. For larger defenders, Martinelli could utilize his speed and agility to quickly blow by them, with his first step paramount to catching guys off guard. For smaller defenders, Martinelli was great at attracting double teams and continuously finding down hill avenues to the basket.
For an example of Martinelli’s incredible playmaking, turn to his game-winner against USC. Despite being double teamed almost instantly, he quickly spun and navigated to the right side, used incredible footwork and physicality to split the gap between his two defenders and muscling his way to a clear shot at the hoop. He then made a success jump hook with his left hand— a shot I dubbed in last year’s Martinelli preview season as his signature offensive play.
While his role in transition blossomed, Martinelli’s continued to lean into steady, catch-and-shoot jump shots with remarkable consistency. His buzzer beater win against Maryland illustrates his success with catch-and-shoot fadeaway shots, as well as his improvement off-ball. In this shot, he simply utilized a screen from center Matthew Nicholson — quickly catching the inbounds pass and floating a short parabola that found the hoop.
“Coaches are smart,” Collins said last season. “If I was playing against us, don’t you think I’d put the house on Martinelli and make him pass and make other guys shoot?”
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While his clutchest plays of the year depict the versatile nature of Martinelli’s scoring, his rebounding also became a key arsenal of his game. Both his defensive and offensive boards were crucial for Northwestern, and helped provide the team plenty of second chance points. After his 10 offensive rebound against USC, Collins said, “Nick just won the game tonight with his will.”
That quote sums up with Martinelli did best — always finding ways to elevating his teammates and churn out victories. It’s one thing to be a talented player; it’s another to be a winning one.
Weaknesses
Martinelli led the team in several statistical categories, but there’s one that isn’t ideal — turnovers. His 66 turnovers were by far the most on the team and 19 more then the guy second to him (Brooks Barnhizer). Many of those were a product of the forward simply having the ball so often and being the focal point of the offense. But self-inflicted errors are almost always the biggest hindrance to a team’s success, and the giveaways are something Martinelli can try and limit this season.
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Despite being the most effective scorer, Martinelli also shot just 72.8% from the free throw line, which was ranked fourth among the Wildcats’ primary starters. Given how often Martinelli draws fouls, bumping that percentage up would be helpful to making him an even more lethal weapon. The last thing any basketball team wants is a player making an incredible offensive play that prompts a defensive foul (sometimes to bail out an easy shot), only for the player to miss one or both free throws. Going 11-for-11 like Martinelli did against Maryland may not be sustainable, but shooting 80% from the line is an attainable goal for him to strive for.
While Martinelli’s three point shooting went up six percentage points last season, it still wasn’t a marquee element of his game. It didn’t necessarily have to be though, given his success as a two-point shooter.
Expectations
2024-2025 proved that Martinelli was a force to be reckoned with in the Big Ten. The goals for 2025-2026 — emulate, improve and lead the next generation of Wildcats. Unlike last year, Martinelli will be playing with more underclassmen this season who will look to him not just as the primary scorer, but also as the team’s role model. His leadership skills will grow as he learns to play with a new set of guys and carry with him the lessons learned from playing alongside Barnhizer, Nicholson, Ty Berry and Jalen Leach.
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We expect to see Martinelli continue averaging 20-plus points a night. We expect him to make the most of his ample minutes to score and rebound at Northwestern’s highest level. We expect to see him continue recording remarkable performances that carry the team to victory. We expect to see him grow as an off-ball threat and facilitator, who can not only be an option but help locate others. While accomplishing all of these things, we hope he can provide Wildcat faithful one or two more game-winning shots.
The sky’s the limit for the Glenview native in what is all but likely his final season in purple. It’ll be exciting to see him make the most of it.
