Big Ten Basketball: Early grades for each teams 2023 offseason moves
2. Northwestern Wildcats – Grade: B
Before the past 48 hours, Northwestern’s transfer moves in and out was largely even. They lost Robbie Beran and Julian Roper to the portal and brought in three newcomers. Only one of them had a sizeable role at their previous stop in Ryan Langborg, who was a star for Princeton in the NCAA Tournament.
But the biggest, and most important thing of note is that Boo Buie, the leading scorer and star of the team, is back for an extra year. His decision instantly makes the Wildcats a contender for the Big Dance and if his backcourt partner Chase Audige also comes back, they’ll be just as good as last season.
1. Purdue Boilermakers – A (for now)
Ideally, I’d give Purdue an “incomplete”. And that’s because there’s only one thing that matters to them. National Player of the Year center and leading scorer Zach Edey is in the NBA Draft process and his decision to stay or go will singlehandedly determine whether or not they’ll be a national and Big Ten Basketball contender or not. Right now, I have to assume that he comes back for an extra year.
Next. Early offseason grades for each Big East team. dark
If that happens, the Boilermakers are automatically getting an “A+” for an offseason grade. The rest of the roster is fine, as they essentially replace Brandon Newman with transfer Lance Jones, a double-digit scoring guard from Southern Illinois. If Edey comes back and the freshmen guards (Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer) take another step, then Purdue will be the team to beat in the Big Ten again.