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Northwestern Basketball: 2019-20 season preview for Wildcats

EAST LANSING, MI - JANUARY 02: Pete Nance #22 of the Northwestern Wildcats during a game against the Michigan State Spartans in the second half at Breslin Center on January 2, 2019 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images)
EAST LANSING, MI - JANUARY 02: Pete Nance #22 of the Northwestern Wildcats during a game against the Michigan State Spartans in the second half at Breslin Center on January 2, 2019 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images) /
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EAST LANSING, MI – JANUARY 02: Pete Nance #22 of the Northwestern Wildcats during a game against the Michigan State Spartans in the second half at Breslin Center on January 2, 2019 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images)
EAST LANSING, MI – JANUARY 02: Pete Nance #22 of the Northwestern Wildcats during a game against the Michigan State Spartans in the second half at Breslin Center on January 2, 2019 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images) /

Players to watch

G Pat Spencer: If you’ve heard of anyone currently on Northwestern but don’t follow Big Ten basketball, it’s probably this guy, because of his story. Spencer, a graduate transfer from Loyola (MD), isn’t a typical hired gun — he’s the NCAA’s all-time assist leader. In lacrosse.

That’s right. Spencer was a four-time All-American for the Greyhounds and ranks second on the NCAA’s all-time scoring list. Now, Chris Collins is betting he’ll be just as able to find a different kind of net. Spencer last played organized basketball in high school at Boys’ Latin in Davidsonville, Md., but by all accounts, he’s a terrific natural athlete. At 6’3 and 205 pounds, he also has good size for point guard, where he started in all four games of the Wildcats’ European tour last month and averaged 14.5 points and six assists. The Wildcats hope that he can be the distributor they lacked last season.

F Pete Nance: The son of former NBA player Larry Nance Sr. and ESPN Top-80 recruit made waves immediately in Evanston, as he became Northwestern’s highest-ever-ranked recruit when he committed. At 6’10 and 210 pounds with an outside touch, Nance has all the tools, but was too raw to make much of an impact on the court, and averaged just 2.9 points in 13.3 minutes per game.

Like Spencer, he started all four games in Europe and averaged 15 points per game, and with more development could be in line for a breakout year. He’s probably the Cats’ most talented player.

F Miller Kopp: Another four-star recruit in the Class of 2018, Kopp made more of a splash than Nance, starting 19 games and averaging 4.9 points per game. The 6’7 Texan showed flashes of becoming an elite scorer from three levels last season, and had them all on display in Europe, leading the ‘Cats with 21.8 points per game on 48.3 percent 3-point shooting. He’s primed to take a big step forward as well as Northwestern’s primary shot-creator.