Only a few months ago, Chris Collins faced a perilous future.
The Northwestern men’s basketball coach appeared to be entering a win-or-bust season without sufficient firepower to save his job.
To Collins, Northwestern’s outlook wasn’t so dire. Even without Pete Nance and Ryan Young, the Wildcats returned six of their top eight players from a 2021-22 team that lost 11 times by seven or fewer points. Collins fancied his experienced backcourt, as well as the camaraderie and purpose his team displayed over the offseason.
“More people need to wake up,” Northwestern guard Boo Buie told reporters last Wednesday after the Indiana win. “This isn’t luck. It can’t be luck at this point,”The story of Northwestern’s improbable resurgence this season begins with one of Collins’ lingering regrets. He blames himself for squandering the chance to build momentum after the Wildcats made the NCAA tournament six years ago.
“There was so much praise and so much satisfaction from getting to that first tournament and winning a game. For all of those guys, that was the reason they came here. Then all of a sudden we did it. I think all of us assumed the train was going to keep moving. The hard lesson we learned was even though a team might have a lot of the same pieces, you’ve got to start every season new and develop that new edge, that new camaraderie.
It didn’t surprise Collins when Nance left. The 6-foot-11 stretch forward tried to turn pro after averaging 14.6 points and 6.5 rebounds as a senior. When feedback from NBA teams indicated that he wouldn’t be drafted, Nance sought a fresh start at North Carolina. “I know a lot of people made it an NCAA tournament or bust type of deal,” Collins said. “That was never discussed. It was never laid out to me that we had to go to the tournament. It was more like, ‘How can we get this thing right? What do we need to do roster-wise, coaching staff-wise, the way we play? How can we get this back on track?”In the wake of his meeting with Cragg, Collins says he reexamined what went wrong down the stretch of all those tight losses the previous season.
When Collins rewatched Northwestern’s two late-November games at the Cancun Challenge, he observed signs of progress. The Wildcats limited Atlantic Sun-leading Liberty to 23 second-half points in a decisive win. Then they locked up 13th-ranked Auburn in a frustrating yet encouraging 43-42 loss.
Deutschland Neuesten Nachrichten, Deutschland Schlagzeilen
Similar News:Sie können auch ähnliche Nachrichten wie diese lesen, die wir aus anderen Nachrichtenquellen gesammelt haben.
Renfield: Stunt Coordinator Chris Brewster on Comedy, Dir Chris McKayStunt coordinator ChrisBrewster (Teen Wolf) talks to Bleeding Cool about reuniting with director ChrisMcKay on Universal's Renfield. NicolasCage NicholasHoult
Weiterlesen »
Former UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank, who was briefly president-elect of Northwestern, dies of cancerRebecca Blank was the chancellor of UW-Madison from 2013 to 2022. In October 2021, she was hired to be the president of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. It was a job she was never able to fully take on – in July 2022, she announced she had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer
Weiterlesen »
Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) aid convoy enters northwestern SyriaParis-founded medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said that a convoy of 14 MSF trucks had entered northwestern Syria on Feb. 19 from a nearby border crossing to assist in earthquake rescue operations.
Weiterlesen »
Buie leads Northwestern over Iowa for 5th straight winThe Wildcats have won 10 or more Big Ten games for only the fourth time in program history.
Weiterlesen »
Rebecca Blank, former University of Wisconsin chancellor and Northwestern economics professor, dies at 67Rebecca Blank, an economist who served as chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has died, less than a year after announcing that she had an aggressive form of cancer. She was 67.
Weiterlesen »