Nearly 150 days after the clock struck midnight on Northwestern men’s basketball’s improbable return to a second consecutive NCAA tournament — where the program’s all-time leading scorer Boo Buie bid farewell to the purple and white — coach Chris Collins’ squad reconvened for another trip.
An ocean away from the professional scouts, pundits and fanfare of the Barclays Center, an arena where the Wildcats knocked off FAU in overtime but fell to eventual repeat national champions UConn, NU embarked on a European trip from Aug. 20 to 30.
With senior guard Brooks Barnhizer, graduate student guard Ty Berry and graduate student center Matthew Nicholson all unavailable due to injury, a potential cornerstone of Collins’ new era ’Cats squad emerged in emphatic fashion.
Being sidelined did not stop Nicholson from spending time with his team in the moments spent sightseeing attractions like the Duomo de Firenze and the Parthenon.
The 7-footer said the trip afforded chances for the newcomers to hit the ground running, as well as role players from last season who will likely see elevated minutes. One such contributor is junior forward Justin Mullins, who showed flashes in 2023-24 but didn’t carve out a consistent role.
Nicholson added that the group experienced significant growth during its European tour, which will prove pivotal once the nonconference slate begins with Lehigh on Nov. 4. The ’Cats will have a curtain raiser of sorts with an exhibition game against Division II Lewis Wednesday night.
“The Europe experience was a huge role in our progression as a team,” Nicholson said. “We needed that experience in order to go into the season maybe a step or two ahead of other teams without having our lead role man back.”
Just centimeters above sea level, freshman guard K.J. Windham soared to star status well beyond his years, illuminating hope for the program’s next wave of talent. The Indianapolis native began his foreign tour with a 17-point display in the opening tilt.
The team started their trip in Venice with a 79-54 win against professional Serbian basketball team KK Vojvodina. Windham was unconscious from deep, draining 5-of-6 3-pointers and sending a statement of his intent to produce from the season’s outset.
Last season, sophomore guard Jordan Clayton was the lone first-year contributor to see minutes — though redshirt sophomore Luke Hunger preserved his eligibility after suffering a season-ending foot injury in 2022-23.
Windham is one of four newcomers to the squad, ringing in the post-Buie era with an influx of new potential. Collins said the trip ahead of the season gave the younger players a chance to gel as a team and uphold the same standard of last season.
“Continuity is a part of the culture we’re trying to build here,” Collins said. “You have to have the older guys so that new players see how we do things, how hard we train, how hard we practice.”
The team moved to Florence, and Windham’s infallible form forged into Tuscany.
Although the Wildcats lost against Aris Thessaloniki Basketball Club in Athens, Windham once again proved his prowess as a potential impact player from tip-off.
NU capped off its tour around Europe with a boat trip off the coast of Athens.
Collins said the timing of the ’Cats’ expedition across Europe was invaluable, giving the players new and old an opportunity to create chemistry as they backflipped into the cutting waves of the Mediterranean coast.
“We got a boat in Greece and all day long we were playing music,” Collins said. “It was just a lot of fun with our family.”
Men’s basketball has not traveled since a tour around France and Italy in 2019 in compliance with NCAA rules allowing teams to plan foreign trips every four years.
Echoing Collins, Nicholson said the team’s trek across Europe — combined with the summer Mediterranean heat — was a vital change of pace from the grind of a typical preseason.
“Coming into this,” he said, “That European experience couldn’t have come at a better time.”
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