Martinelli Embraces Leadership Role for New-Look Wildcats

Photo by: Ryan Kuttler/Northwestern Athletics

Martinelli Embraces Leadership Role for New-Look Wildcats

11/13/2025 6:14:00 PM | Men's Basketball

By: Charlie Spungin, NUSports.com

Long before he'd break the Northwestern program single-season points record or be named to the Naismith Player of the Year Watch List, Nick Martinelli was fighting for a spot in the rotation.

As a first-year, Martinelli carved out a bench role for the 2022-23 Wildcats squad that became just the second team in program history to reach the NCAA Tournament. Robbie Beran, Ty Berry, and the program's all-time leading scorer Boo Buie were among the players showing a young Martinelli the ropes.

Three seasons removed from that, the student has become the teacher. Martinelli, now a senior, has been tasked with stepping up as the primary leader for the 2025-26 Wildcats that feature eight newcomers.

"That group we've had together for the last four years — it was awesome. It was amazing," Sullivan-Ubben Head Men's Basketball Coach Chris Collins said. "Ty Berry, Matt Nicholson, Boo [Buie], Nick [Martinelli], Brooks Barnhizer, Chase [Audige] — we had that group of guys that grew together. Now, other than Nick, everybody else is gone. So it's a new team, new energy, new guys."

So far, Collins' new group has found success. Despite having the most newcomers to a roster since the 2019-20 season, Northwestern has jumped to a 3-0 start, with an average margin of victory of 31.3 points.

Martinelli got a taste of what it meant to be a leader in the final 10 games of last season. After both Barnhizer and Jalen Leach suffered season-ending injuries, Martinelli — cast into the limelight — started to find his voice in the locker room. That experience provided a valuable transition into this season.

"Last season when Brooks and Jalen went down, it was kind of a good lead-in to this year in the sense of being a leader," Martinelli said. "I've talked about how great it's been having eight new guys. It's a totally different team and trying to lead them in the right way and show them our culture, how things are done."

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The work toward the 2025-26 season began months before the team took the floor for its first exhibition against Iowa State on Oct. 26. Over the summer, players instantly sought to make connections with one another both on and off the court.

Naturally, eyes gravitated toward Martinelli — the team's longest-tenured and leading returner — to lead the pack. Martinelli instantly made an effort to magnify his voice to show his teammates the culture and how a Wildcat is expected to carry himself.

Martinelli's impact has been quickly notable. Transfers, junior forward Arrinten Page and junior guard Jayden Reid, both credit Martinelli for his assistance in finding their way in a new system.

"[Nick's] been here for four years. He grew up around Northwestern, so he bleeds this place," Reid said. "Just looking up to him [with] me being here for the first year, just seeing how he works, seeing the culture, seeing how he goes about his work has been very important to us — not only me, but the whole team."

Having seen the standard for success during his tenure in Evanston — as Northwestern totaled over 60 wins in his first three seasons — Martinelli knows what it takes to win the Wildcat way. He has tried to instill a "killer mentality," a common trait of successful Northwestern players in his tenure, into his teammates.

For Collins, Martinelli's experience and buy-in are key to Northwestern's on-court success.

"Nick is two feet in with what we're trying to do," Collins said. "He's trying to win, and I think the biggest thing for him is the leadership. Nick is one of those guys that is a front-line soldier. He'll run through the wall first. He'll throw his body around. He'll do whatever is necessary."

So far, Martinelli has helped lead the Wildcats to a dominant opening to the campaign, averaging 19.3 points and 7.0 rebounds per game on 58.8% shooting.

The key to Martinelli's leadership has been an effort to pass down what he learned from his mentors. While seeking to become the first Wildcat in program history to appear in three NCAA Tournaments, he is attempting to set the stage for future Northwestern teams to do the same.

"When I leave here, I don't want that to be the last March Madness that we make. I want my kids to see Northwestern teams making March Madness. I want to see it myself. I want to be at those games, and I want to be — and Justin [Mullins] can attest to this — a true mentor for these kids that have come in so that they can be mentors to those that follow them," Martinelli said.