Over the next month or so, IUplanet will be posting up scouting reports that feature each school in the Big Ten conference and provide insight into what kind of competition IU basketball will be up against during this coming 2008-09 season.
Each report will be composed largely of information straight from a volunteer writer or blogger who covers that school and has a good degree of familiarity with its basketball program.
The first edition of the
Big Ten Picture features the
Northwestern Wildcats, and a detailed report provided by the staff at the devoted Northwestern blog
Lake the Posts. The report breaks down the Wildcats and how they’ll match up with the Hoosiers with an informative and often witty approach.
First though, here’s a little background: last season the Hoosiers defeated Northwestern in both regular season meetings, although the second meeting was an extremely tight 85-82 contest. The IU squad of last year, however, is no more, and this year IU will put practically an entirely new team on the floor against a Northwestern team bolstered with an unusually strong recruiting class.
Here’s the report on the Wildcats, from Lake the Posts:
For the first time since Jittim Young was at the point and the Cats went .500 in 2004, there is actual excitement in the air about NU hoops. OK, let's keep it in perspective, we're talking Northwestern hoops excitement, not Hoosier-esque excitement.
Bill Carmody somehow became the
Tim Brewster of Big Ten hoops this offseason by landing what most of us are considering the best recruiting class in Northwestern basketball history.
The returning nucleus of the team of course centers around sophomore point guard
Michael Thompson, senior sharp-shooter
Craig Moore, and the heart and soul of the team,
Kevin Coble. The talent drop-off after these three is well documented and along with Coble's half-season hiatus last year to tend to his mom's cancer, the results of the 07-08 season are proof. The Cats suffered through a miserable 1-17 season and
cries for Carmody to move on were prominent by March.
However, current NU assistant and former big man,
Tavaras Hardy, recently completed an incredible get that has me borderline confident that we'll actually beat Indiana this year (the only time we EVER felt that way was when Mike Davis was patrolling the Hoosier sidelines!).
Each of the following players will get significant minutes, and expect both 7-foot freshman
Kyle Rowley and 6-6 swing guard
Nick Freundt to start from day one. In that regard, our reliance on freshmen will make us somewhat similar to the incredible story you've got going on in Bloomington. I think the Hoosiers "we have no players and will start all freshmen" is the single most compelling storyline of the 2008-2009 basketball season. Nationally.
Here's a quick overview of the incoming freshmen class:
1) Kyle Rowley, C - 7-0, 280 lbs - Lake Forest Academy, Lake Forest, IL
The Trinidad & Tobago native is no stranger to Tom Crean, as Marquette, along with Pitt, Wisconsin, Georgetown had all offered Rowley scholarships. Indiana was reportedly showing heavy interest as well. Rowley, along with 6-10, Indiana (LaPorte) "native"
Luka Mircovic (he is actually a native of Serbia) help flip Northwestern from being the smallest team in the Big Ten to the tallest team overnight. Rowley's low post presence will negate the need to employ our 1-3-1 with a sub 6-footer anchoring the back-end of the zone. Thank God!!!
2) Nick Freundt, G/SF - 6-6, 195 lbs - Batavia, IL
Newsflash. The Cats landed a 1st team All State player from Illinois. This simply does not happen in Evanston. Freundt is a major player and will instantly create scoring balance to help take the load off of Coble and Moore. The kid missed a third of the season with mononucleosis last season and still garnered a laundry list of honors including All State.
3) Luka Mirkovic, F - 6-10, 205 lbs - La Porte, IN
Mirkovic turned down Marquette, Louisville and DePaul to come to Evanston which is to me the most impressive line on his resume. Indiana Hoops ranked him the 4th best player in the state, yet his slight frame scares me. This is the classic fit, though, for the Carmody Princeton offense - a big man who can shoot from outside. Carmody also seems to have a stranglehold on both Croatia and Serbia over the years - with players who emphasized academics as the tipping scale.
4) John Shurna - F - 6-8, 195 lbs - Glen Ellyn (Glenbard West), IL
Shurna finished the year incredibly strong, lighting up opponents for 30+ nights with regularity. In my opinion, Shurna is the fourth best player of the class, but along with Freundt, was an early signee that raised some eyebrows.
5)Davide' Curletti - C - 6-9, 225 lbs - Orchard Lake, (St. Mary's) MI
Curletti was a late get by the Cats and it appeared they were just in time as both Michigan State and Michigan were starting to show interest. Curletti, again fitting the NU mold, is a big man who can pass. Curletti is AAU teammates of 2009 NU signee/sharpshooter
Alex Marcotullio.
So, no one knows what is in store for the Cats record-wise as it will depend on the learning curve of the freshmen, which is always a variable. The only thing undeniable is a renewed interest in Northwestern basketball.
Discuss it in the forums
Many thanks to Lake the Posts for the great information!
Lake The Posts - Northwestern Football Blog
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