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Northwestern Basketball: 2019-20 season preview for Wildcats

By Jacob Shames

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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EVANSTON, IL – DECEMBER 04: Head coach Chris Collins of the Northwestern Wildcats yells to his team as they go on defense in the game against the Michigan Wolverines in the second half at Welsh-Ryan Arena on December 4, 2018 in Evanston, Illinois. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images)
EVANSTON, IL – DECEMBER 04: Head coach Chris Collins of the Northwestern Wildcats yells to his team as they go on defense in the game against the Michigan Wolverines in the second half at Welsh-Ryan Arena on December 4, 2018 in Evanston, Illinois. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images) /

Season Outlook

Chris Collins is the most successful coach in modern Northwestern basketball history and it’s not particularly close. Not only has he guided the Wildcats to the NCAA Tournament, but he’s consistently elevated the standards of what they can expect to achieve on the recruiting trail. Nance and Kopp exemplified that last season, and Beran, Buie and Jones do the same now. Granted, the floor was “perennial joke,” but respectability is vastly preferable in Evanston.

That being said, it will take some time for Northwestern to get back to that point, even if there are bright spots. This is a team in for a long year of growing pains. None of the Wildcats’ freshmen are exactly can’t-miss studs, and all of them will be expected to play large roles from Day One.

Any hopes for Northwestern, now or in the near future, rely fully on potential. Nance might be one of the Big Ten’s premier unicorns. Kopp might be a go-to scorer. Spencer might  pull a reverse Antonio Gates. Beran might be a matchup nightmare off the bench. Even if these “mights” become wills, they probably won’t happen this year.

Next. Big Ten preseason power rankings for 2019-20. dark

Thus, 2019-20 will be about developing this potential and establishing a firm bedrock as much as possible for Collins and company. In the meantime, the ‘Cats will compete with Nebraska, a team in a similar roster situation, to stay out of the Big Ten cellar. But there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.

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