Northwestern men's basketball had a roller coaster of a 2021 season, winning six Big Ten games – including three against top NCAA squads – but losing 13 consecutive games in the middle of the season. There are plenty of questions to be answered, so our sports editors gave it their best shot:

Coop Daley:

Northwestern men's basketball’s 2020-2021 season, in my eyes, was not a complete flop, but was still a disappointment. I said at the beginning of the year, I would absolutely hope that Northwestern could make a splash in the Big Ten, [and] they certainly did with some games. But when you have a 13 game losing streak in the middle, it's not exactly a great look on the season. If you guys have any takeaways from the season, I would love to hear them.

Jordan Landsberg:

I definitely did not have a positive outlook on the season to begin with, so I guess I was not totally wrong in my assessment. I was pretty much accurate. But I mean, it was pretty disappointing as well to see them go on a 13 game losing streak and not win a game for over eight weeks. Definitely does not feel good to be right about this one.

Harris Fermaglich:

Yeah, I was certainly hoping that you'd be wrong on your outlook, Jordan, that you had earlier this year, but I would say the 13 game losing streak, it's just tough because that's the middle of the season. Those are the dog days of college basketball, that's the heart of the season, and to kind of go that stretch from about New Year's to late February, just losing week in and week out, that defines the season. But if you want to look at it from a glass half full perspective, I guess they still did have three wins over NCAA Tournament teams in Michigan State, Ohio State – who was number two seed as well – and Maryland. Of those teams, Maryland's the only one who ended up winning a game in the tournament, but I guess the other thing you would say is that the Big Ten tournament was also disappointing. They kind of had a fresh start, probably two to three wins away from being in March Madness, and they couldn't get by Minnesota, and I think that game just fits in with the whole 13 game losing streak, with all the underwhelming performances we saw the rest of the way.

Coop Daley:

Yeah, I kind of like what you had to say about the losing defining a team early on. I think this is a Northwestern team that struggled with identity out of the gate. I think a lot of the hype around the team was [that they were] still a young core, so it's still developing, but I do think we did see flashes of promise from certain players. Boo Buie, he looks like the point guard of the future…  Hopefully he doesn't transfer but who knows at this point, he looks fantastic. Chase Audige was probably one of my favorite players in the season. I know that that's probably not going to get a lot of credit, because people will say he was undisciplined, but I like Audige. I think Ryan Young proved that he could have valuable minutes, and I think he just needs to stay in shape. I'm excited about the future, but at the same time we do have two key departures… we can touch on that later. But I think this is an identity for Northwestern, that has interesting three-point shooting from Buie and Audige and possibly could go further than that, especially in the post with [Pete] Nance and Young.

Jordan Landsberg:  

I agree with you there on Buie. I like him as well, but I think inconsistency really just hurts them. I think that with Miller Kopp entering the transfer portal, it's really important that Boo Buie is able to find some consistency to hopefully jump as Northwestern’s leading scorer for next year. He struggled mightily during the losing streak, aside from that one 18-point performance at Penn State. As I said, he just needs to find some consistency to take his game to the next level. Coop, you mentioned earlier that there were some people who were pretty down on Chase Audige, and thought that he was inefficient. At first I was one of those people, but then looking back on the season and reading some articles, I definitely changed my opinion of him. I think that he was a significant contributor on the offensive and defensive side of the ball, and he brought intense energy to everything he did. He was a consistent scorer for a decent part of the season. He had no trouble adapting to the Big Ten from I think it was the [Colonial Athletic Association] that he was in [at] William and Mary, and he played very well this season, but definitely showed that he has room for improvement. I definitely think that he will be a key player for them next year.

Harris Fermaglich:

Yeah, I would say Audige is always an interesting one. I think going into year two of Big Ten play will hopefully loom large for him and hopefully allow [him to perform well]. Hopefully his fouls become less of a distraction, with the number of times [he was] tormenting the other team, slapping the backboard, I think it cost his team and cost the Wildcats. I don't think that’s why it was 13 games in a row, but I think another year of him developing, and learning Big Ten basketball, hopefully can make a big difference. Like people have mentioned, I think there is a solid core [of] about four guys that returned, plus there were a number of roleplayers on the bench that are back again. For the most part, it's a very similar core, minus just the two guys that we’ll mention later, and I see a bright future. I think, for Northwestern standards, there's a good recruiting class coming in. I think for Chris Collins, this is probably about a make-or-break year. I would say that the Big Ten was very good this year, they did still win six games, and that's probably three games short of March Madness. There were about at least three games, if not more, that they were within striking distance and very close to winning. I think that that is hopefully a good sign. Hopefully they can turn some of those close losses into wins. They turned some of them this year, relative to last year, but they're going to need to make a little bit more improvement to really shine.

Coop Daley:

Absolutely. So we kind of danced around it in the last question, [but] obviously the big storyline of this offseason has been the departures of seasoned veterans Miller Kopp, who went to Big Ten rival Indiana, and Anthony Gaines to Siena – two veterans with a lot of court presence for Northwestern. This is the first time that we've really had big transfers out of the team in a while. Last season, it was just Jared Jones, who left after playing sparse minutes off the bench. I don't think this is indicative of an issue for the ’Cats, I think it's just one of those tough cases where Miller Kopp wants to have a chance to play for a seasoned program and get significant minutes. Unfortunately, I don't know if it means that he's not willing to take the step and raise Northwestern to the next level, but I don't know. I'd love to hear your guys' thoughts on what it's indicative of, if anything?

Harris Fermaglich:

Well, I think it's unclear obviously, to really know what Miller Kopp is obviously up to concerning transferring. If you're a Northwestern fan, you have to think, “Why did this happen? Why is he leaving?” Let's take a step back. Indiana has a new coach coming in, [and] I don't think the program isn't exactly in the best possible shape right now. You have to take a step back and think and look at why he transferred. Did he transfer [because] he didn't like Chris Collins, or did he transfer because [of] other personal reasons that we don't know about. If you’re a Northwestern fan, you hope it's the latter, you hope that it's nothing to do with the program, because, frankly, if it does have to do with the program, the expectations that we have for growth next year are probably unrealistic, and that could be a sign of things to come. But I would definitely lean towards the fact that it could really be either way. I would lean towards [that] he probably has personal reasons to do it, and it's not program specific, but I definitely don't have enough information to make a set claim there.

Jordan Landsberg:  

And I think as Harris just mentioned, it's going to be pretty disappointing, or it's going to be disappointing to watch him in another uniform, especially on a conference opponent that we will most likely play twice next year. He's gonna leave a big hole in the team, having scored 832 career points, averaging 13.6 per game as a sophomore last year, although he had a cold streak, and definitely leveled off a little bit this year. But just next year [he’ll play for] Indiana, that looks to have struggled a lot last year, so he's gonna have to step it up.

Coop Daley:

Yeah, absolutely. Obviously the other big storyline of this offseason is the addition of Elyjah Williams from Fairleigh Dickinson. He's one of the more seasoned guys I think. He is a junior forward coming to Evanston. I think this is kind of a homecoming for him, especially considering that he grew up in Evanston, and probably wants to be close to his family after this bubble season of sorts. I would also argue the fact that we're getting another big transfer, just two years after landing Audige. I think that Northwestern could be still on the map for certain talents, and I think that he could really elevate this team to another level. But what do you think?

Jordan Landsberg:  

I agree with you in the fact that he's definitely more seasoned than most guys that will be on the team. He averaged [around] 14 points and seven or eight rebounds last year for Fairleigh Dickinson. So I think he'll be a nice veteran presence for the younger guys on the team, and I think that he’ll provide strong defense and a big rebounder for the team. So I think it's good for them.

Harris Fermaglich:

I would agree. I think defensively and rebounding, it kind of somewhat replaces what we're going to lose from Kopp. I'm curious what his shooting characteristics are, and if he can space the floor or not. But regardless, I think it's always good to have extra bodies. I would disagree with you, Jordan, about your point about the ’Cats being a young team. It's really not a young team at this point. Chase Audige is going to be a junior, and having played at two schools, now in his second year at Northwestern, and Boo Buie also. So this is not young, but it's always good to bring in guys with experience. I guess, to kind of segue, if you will, once you have this information, what impact there will be on the recruiting class, and I think that's definitely kind of fits into the same bucket to transfer income players.

Coop Daley:

Elyjah Williams is more of a post shooter. He only took 50 threes, I think this season, and he made 20 of them. He can do it, but he's more of a threat within the arc than outside of it. So I think that'll be an interesting dynamic to add. Maybe they’ll transition Robbie Beran and Pete Nance to the outside more so they can focus on threes, but it'll be interesting.

Harris Fermaglich:

I don't think we had a traditional center on the roster. Miller Kopp is more of the LaMarcus Aldridge prototype than the more interior DeAndre Jordan.

Jordan Landsberg:

Elyjah Williams and Miller Kopp are both 6’7.” I just looked up some more stats and facts about Williams, and I see that his skill set and size make him comparable to [Kopp]. Maybe a replacement.

Coop Daley:

Absolutely. Now we come to the probably the most contentious question. Do you guys take this season as a step in the positive direction, especially considering what's going to occur next year? Or do you think that we could be seeing the end of an era in Evanston?

Harris Fermaglich:

It's definitely not the end of an era. I mean, as far as we know, Chris Collins will be back, because the best coaches that are on the market are gone and signed elsewhere. So it's definitely not the end of an era. Technically speaking, it's a step forward, because they’re better than where they were the year before, but is it really a step to get where they need to be is the big question. And will that lead to the departure of Chris Collins? There's really no way to know for sure. The Big Ten overall, if you look at teams like Iowa and Michigan, they will take steps back, no doubt about that. So I think that there could be more opportunities in the conference to win games and boost confidence. It's theoretically the same roster, we just made the Williams to Kopp comparison, so it's a very similar roster. We have new freshmen coming in that might be able to contribute. So I think there's no reason they can't grow. The question is can they grow next year to be where they need to be, and I think where they need to be at this point is an NCAA tournament team. That's not easy, but given that the Big Ten is probably going to take a step back, I would say that the nine- to 10-win number that I was discussing now could grow to like 12. I guess they will have a non-conference schedule for a more traditional non-conference that can provide more opportunities for wins, but I can't jump to the conclusion there. I see both sides.

Coop Daley:

I would have to say that I think this is getting to a point where we can’t say this is a young team in the best conference in the country anymore. First of all, everyone who is “young” this year is going to return next year, and probably have a larger impact than before, and that season experience in the best conference in the country is going to have to show up or put up. Beyond that, I think you guys said a lot, we're going to have an interesting conference next year. With a lot of graduating guys; Illinois is not going to be the same team, Iowa’s not going to be the same team, a lot of other teams are not going to be the same team. So I think for Northwestern, the time is going to be to strike and push themselves on to a new level in the Big Ten. If they can't do that, then we might be looking at some interesting discussions in the following offseason, especially considering we have a new athletic director incoming. Who knows when they’ll be here, though.

Harris Fermaglich:

That’s an interesting point. I just want to add to what you've mentioned there Coop. If you look ahead to a year from now, that is the end of an era, we might not have to answer that – it might be answered for us if there's no progression. It’s really interesting, the Big Ten will obviously be stepping back, so will Northwestern be able to assert themselves within the conference as a top team that's going to be on the top in March Madness? Or is it a bubble team that barely wins enough games to make the tournament? That said, that bubble team is not going to be eight or nine wins, it's going to be 12 to 13 next year, somewhere in there. There’s definitely a high ceiling, but I guess you could say that about every year.

Jordan Landsberg:

What player excites you the most for next year?

Coop Daley:

Ryan Young. I will say that Ryan Young is going to be the starting center of next year. He was a performer in almost every critical game for Northwestern last season. I think that he's going to have an incredible role on the interior, and with Boo Buie seeing time as starting point guard once again and probably Chase Audige on his wing, I think that that trio is going to be critical to Northwestern’s success next year, in addition to Robbie Beran and Pete Nance on the sides, but we can see how that goes.

Harris Fermaglich:  

Yeah, I'll take the question a different way. We discussed Chase Audige and Boo Buie, so I'm gonna look at the freshmen. I guess my person will be Casey Simmons, a top 100 freshman for Massachusetts, shooting guard, relatively tall for a wing. What excites me is just having more wings that are relevant, and a top 100 recruit is not what we see here in Evanston all the time. I don't know if he’ll be starting right away, just given Buie, Audige and the depth there is, but to bring in a player who's talented, even if he's just a role player in year one, theoretically, that could develop into a starter at least by maybe year’s end or 2022. I think he's an interesting one, and it'll be interesting to see what Chris Collins is able to do with someone who's maybe more talented than the average freshman that comes into the program.

Jordan Landsberg:

Yeah, so I'm also not going to say Audige or Buie, so I'm going to say Ty Berry. While he was definitely not perfect this year, he was a freshman and was definitely able to hold his own for the most part. He definitely showed flashes of what he could turn into, with definitely a lot of room to grow. His shooting can be lights out at times, and with improvement and one year under his belt in the Big Ten, I think that he has plenty of potential to become a consistent scorer for the team and potentially develop into a starting role.

Harris Fermaglich:

One point I’ll make on the topic of recruiting is that I believe we actually have the number six class in the conference, and with the amount of nucleus that we returned relative to other rosters has to be towards the top. There's no statistic of degree to that, but it has to be towards the top, considering the number of departures around the conference. So I would just say hopefully that's also something to be excited about and can propel the team to being successful, especially as you get later into the season, into those dog days of late January, February and March.

Coop Daley:

Absolutely, absolutely. I think the future could be bright.