Northwestern Basketball: 2018-19 season preview for the Wildcats

Wildcats projected starting lineup

G, 6’6, 196, Transfer-Grad, Ryan Taylor

We’re kicking off the starting lineup with our first transfer on the team. He was not heavily recruited for Ohio in 2014. The Bobcats struggled and he transferred to Evansville. I’m not saying there’s much of an upgrade, but he sure fits in better. He scored over 14 points per game and then responded for 21.3 last season. Taylor averaged just 1.5 three-pointers per game and shot that number up to over 2.5 in his third season. He has 149 made shots from outside in three seasons. He may have to be used as the starting point guard as there are not many candidates to choose from. Taylor only averaged 1.3 assists per game in three seasons, but there’s no doubt he can score.

G, 6’4, 205, Sophomore, Anthony Gaines

The backcourt is completely up for grabs thanks to the loss of Scottie Lindsey and Bryant McIntosh. That literally leaves Northwestern with a transfer, a junior who made 10 starts last season and a sophomore who made five. Usually, the junior who has made 10 is the favorite, but his starts were random. Here’s the sophomore who started the last five games last season. They were all losses, but Anthony Gaines was trusted at the end of the season to be one of the starting five for Collins. He played in all 32 games, averaged 18.6 minutes along with four points per game. It’s really a tossup between him and Aaron Falzon. No one is too flashy so it’s hard to pick a starter and I’ll just go with Gaines.

F, 6’7, 188, Transfer Junior, A.J. Turner

Here’s the second transfer Northwestern has who is going to play valuable minutes. A.J. Turner will have two years as a Wildcat after sitting out last season. It’ll be another tossup between him and Falzon. The veteran Wildcat has had an up and down career at Northwestern. Turner was brought in to play the three.

He spent two seasons at Boston College playing in and starting most games. Turner went from 5.8 points to 8.4 from his first to second season. His three-pointers almost doubled from year one to year two while his percentages went up nicely also. Turner’s rebounding could be higher for a forward, but he is your typical small forward on a team that could use a consistent one.

F, 6’7, 200, Senior, Vic Law

Now on to the sure-fire starters for the Northwestern Wildcats. Vic Law has been starting games almost his entire career at Northwestern. He started over half his freshman year then each game his sophomore and junior season. Law’s been asked to play the three and four. His height warrants a small forward, but he’s been borderline six rebounds in his last two seasons. The impressive part is his scoring. Law made over 50 three-pointers each of the last two seasons and has averaged over 12 points per game. He’ll be competing with the next guys for Northwestern’s leading scorer this season.

F, 6’8, 235, Senior, Dererk Pardon

Dererk Pardon has been playing center for the Wildcats for quite some time now. During his freshman year, he played 20 games and started two. Pardon then went on to play 28 and 32 games while starting them all and racking up many boards while wearing purple. This is your typical big man. Pardon finally hit double-figures last season with 11.3 points per game. What has kept him around playing the five at Northwestern is his over seven boards per game and close to two blocks per game. He also shoots an impressive 62 percent from the field. This will be the strongest position on the court for Northwestern this season.