Northwestern University Athletics
The 2002-03 Season in Review
4/10/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
April 10, 2003
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EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern men's basketball coach Bill Carmody is not one to mince words, and so he would be the first to tell you that the 2002-03 season was disappointing -- a sign of the expectations he has for this program.
NU was put behind the eight-ball early: season-ending injuries to sophomore Vedran Vukusic and freshman Ivan Tolic left the 'Cats short-handed up front, and they were never able to fully recover from that.
For the second straight year, the Wildcats went 8-3 in nonconference play. Two of the three losses came against teams that would go on to play in the NCAA Tournament -- IUPUI (56-53 on Nov. 27) and N.C. State in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge (74-49 on Dec. 4) -- while the other one came against an Illinois-Chicago team that went to the NIT (70-53 on Dec. 19).
The highlight of the Big Ten season definitely came in early February, when the 'Cats knocked off Indiana (74-61) and Purdue (78-67) on back-to-back Wednesdays. It was NU's first win over the Hoosiers since 1988, and the victories marked the first time Northwestern had defeated both Hoosier State conference foes in the same season since 1982.
NU's final regular-season victory was also a thriller, as the Wildcats offset a tremendous performance by Penn State senior Brandon Watkins to knock off the Nittany Lions in double overtime, 85-79, in front of a national TV audience.
The Wildcats' final salvo came in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament, when they popped seventh-seeded Minnesota's bubble (and NCAA Tournament hopes) with a 76-64 win at the United Center.
As you look at the roster, numerous bright lights shine. Two seniors had career years, and some freshmen gave indications that they will be high-impact players in the Big Ten for years to come.
Age always comes first, of course, and so we focus on NU's elder statesmen. Center Aaron Jennings, for example, averaged 11.3 points per game in 2002-03 and set single-season highs in every statistical category, some by a wide margin.
The same goes for senior forward Jason Burke, NU's versatile guard/forward who was forced to play inside with the emergence of the Wildcats' freshman backcourt. Burke averaged 6.9 ppg by scoring 199 points -- 78 more than his previous best. He also established career highs in several offensive categories, and was one of NU's most consistent players in Big Ten play (his 8.3 ppg in conference play was fourth on the team).
The third senior -- Winston Blake -- saw his point production go down in 2002-03, but he became just the second player in Northwestern history to reach 200 three-point baskets for his career (he ended with exactly 200). In addition, he became the 24th player in school history to score 1,000 points for his career, reaching the magical mark in that win over Indiana.
Ah yes, that freshman backcourt -- Northwestern's "French Connection" -- of T.J. Parker (a Parisian who spent his last two high school years in nearby Lisle, Ill.) and Mohamed Hachad (who grew up in the former French colony of Morocco before moving to Montreal a few years ago). They have had ups and downs as freshmen will in Big Ten play, but they should prove to be quite a dynamic duo before all is said and done for the Wildcats. Parker had the finest all-around season by an NU frosh in years, and finished second on the team in scoring (11.4 ppg), assists (77) and steals (40). Hachad came on and earned a starting role in the second half of the season. He averaged 6.1 ppg in that role.
Finally, what can you say about Jitim Young? The 6-foot-2 junior moved to a forward spot to accommodate Hachad, yet led NU in scoring (13.4 ppg) and rebounding (5.1 rpg) including 65 offensive boards -- 35 more than any other Wildcat player. In the season finale, he became the 13th player in Wildcat history to reach the 1,000-point mark in three seasons. Young was rewarded for his season with consensus All-Big Ten honors.
The Fun Fact of 2002-03
Senior Winston Blake and junior Jitim Young both reached the 1,000-point mark this year, marking just the third time in school history two or more players reached that milestone in the same season. The other seasons it occured were 1954-55 (Frank Ehmann and Hal Grant) and 1993-94 (Cedric Neloms, Pat Baldwin and Todd Leslie).
