Northwestern University Athletics
The 2001-02 Men's Basketball Outlook
10/16/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Oct. 16, 2001
EVANSTON, Ill. - A quick look at the top teams in college basketball reveals a common theme-a nucleus. Two or three or even four players around whom the team is centered. These are the leaders on the floor and in the locker room.
One of the things that has held Northwestern back the last few years has been its nucleus. Oh, it was in place. But it was young, very young.
For two straight years, the Wildcats were an outfit without a senior. According to Stats, Inc., Northwestern led the nation each of the last two years in minutes played by freshmen and sophomores, including 1999-2000 when a staggering 99.9 percent of the minutes-all but two-were played by underclassmen.
But there is good news as the 2001-02 season dawns: the nucleus has grown up. When second-year coach Bill Carmody sends his team onto the floor this season, he does so knowing he has a quartet of players who are well-versed in the rigors of Big Ten basketball. Perhaps more importantly, they are also well-versed in the intricacies of Bill Carmody basketball.
"The returning players are anxious to get going," said Carmody. "There won't be as big a learning process during the preseason. Everything got started so late last year that we were fighting to keep our heads above water. This year, most of the work will be on refining the things that are already put in place."
The Wildcats gave glimpses last year that the future holds promise. The team won three of its last six Big Ten games, knocking off a pair of NCAA Tournament teams (Iowa and Penn State) and going on the road for its first win at Michigan in 20 years. In addition, the Wildcats scored a non-conference win over nationally ranked USC.
"Last year was certainly a work in progress," said Carmody. "The big question this year is can we have more of those successful games? We spent the offseason working individually with the guys to expand their respective games, and we hope to see that pay off."
For the first time in three years, Northwestern can boast of having senior leadership. In Tavaras Hardy, the Wildcats have a three-year starter who will threaten to break the school's all-time record for games started. In Collier Drayton, the team has a player who went from playing just one game and seven minutes as a freshman to starting 49 games and averaging nearly 30 minutes per game the last two years. Clearly, they define "veteran."
"It is always good to have seniors on your team," said Carmody. "When I first got here, I remember meeting Tavaras and really being happy to find a guy with his maturity level. Those two are leaders on the floor for us."
Due to a lack of height on the roster last season, Hardy was forced to play out of position last year. He spent most of 2000-01 with his back to the basket, posting up players who were much bigger than him. Nevertheless, he averaged 10.7 points per game which was second on the team. Hardy also led the team in rebounding (5.7 rpg) and 29 blocked shots.
Carmody's goal for the coming season is to move Hardy back into his more familiar forward position.
"We have asked Tavaras - more like challenged him - to expand his game this year. He has the ability to do things that guards can do. I expect him to play a lot more at forward this year than he did last year."
Drayton established himself as the floor general last year, quickly learning the new offense and becoming Carmody's coach on the court. Drayton averaged 33.4 minutes per game, tops on the team, and had 101 assists. He also averaged 5.4 points and 3.7 rebounds per contest.
"Collier was basically running the team out there last year," said Carmody. "He has hung in and made himself into a player who can really help this program."
Junior Winston Blake and sophomore Jitim Young round out the nucleus of starters.
Blake seemed to take to the new offensive scheme the best last year, establishing himself as the Wildcats' top legitimate three-point shooter. He ended up leading the team in scoring (11.9 ppg) and knocked down 83 treys, the second best for a single season in school history.
"The goal for Winston this year will be to expand his game," said Carmody. "I don't want him to be known only as a three-point shooter. We need to become a slasher, to be able to drive to the basket and finish."
Young, meanwhile, gave indications that he could end up being a special player for the Wildcats. In his freshman campaign, Young averaged more than 30 minutes per game and scored 8.8 points per contest. At the defensive end, he collected 47 steals and proved to be a tenacious defender.
Carmody thinks the sky is the limit for his sophomore guard.
"Jitim is the hardest worker on the team," said Carmody. "He had a fine freshman season, but there are some things he needed to work on and he did that. We are hoping to see that work pay off this season.
"Jitim is a guy who truly has a love for the game of basketball," Carmody continued. "As a coach, you hope his enthusiasm becomes contagious and rubs off on the rest of the guys."
The goal for the Wildcats this season-in addition to finding a fifth starter to mesh with the four returning starters-will be to add depth to the lineup.
A pair of juniors have the potential to become regulars in the starting five. Aaron Jennings averaged nearly seven points per game in Big Ten play last year and saw about 16 minutes per contest overall. As Jennings is the team's tallest player, Carmody would love to see him fill the middle to free Hardy on the wing.
"Aaron needed to build up, so we put him in the weight room during the offseason and threw away the key," said Carmody. "He has some nice bread-and-butter moves on the post, but we're hoping he'll expand his repertoire there."
The other junior on the roster is Jason Burke. He averaged nearly 14 minutes per game last season, and was a catalyst in NU's win over Iowa in February. Carmody is hoping to see more of that in 2001-02.
"Jason is one of our smartest players, but he was hampered by injuries last year," said Carmody. "This year, we're hoping he comes back healthy and ready to contribute. He doesn't have any real weaknesses."
In the sophomore class, Patrick Towne is another big body that Carmody would like to see battle for minutes this season.
"Patrick is a runner and a jumper," said Carmody. "He can help us on the boards right now, and is coming along offensively."
Drew Long saw spare minutes early last season, before a foot injury shelved him for the season. He was able to redshirt, though, and will technically be a freshman this season.
"Drew is one of the best athletes on the team," said Carmody. "I think he will definitely help us this year-with his athletic and shooting ability he can be an impact player here."
Carmody went beyond the borders for his freshman class. Looking for size, he jetted off to Europe and found it in Denmark (Thomas Soltau) and Croatia (Davor Duvancic, Vedran Vukusic).
"We need size, and these guys provide it," said Carmody. "We still have a ways to go before we know just how much they can help us right away, but I think their futures are bright in our program."
With his nucleus in place, and a roster of solid players looking to crash the party, Carmody enters his second season at NU with positive feelings about the future.
"I think last year was hard for everyone," he said. "But then we won the Iowa game to put the Big Ten losing streak behind us, then we beat Michigan to end the road losing streak. Now the question is, where do we go from here? How do we build on that?"
