By Charlie Spungin, NUSports.com
EVANSTON, Ill. — Third-year guard Angelo Ciaravino and second-year guard Jake West will serve as Northwestern’s captains for the 2026-27 men’s basketball season, Sullivan-Ubben Head Men’s Basketball Coach Chris Collins announced Sunday.
Ciaravino is the first Wildcat third-year to be named a captain since Brooks Barnhizer in the 2023-24 season, while West is the first second-year to be named captain at Northwestern since 1991-92, when Pat Baldwin was selected as a captain.![[MBB]Captains (2).png](https://storage.googleapis.com/nusports-com-prod/2026/11/01/cqYlyKqCzzTM7P3GQieoUyRjzYcH6tU73udoGzPc.png)
The Wildcats’ returning leading scorer, Ciaravino started 18 games and averaged 6.3 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game with the team’s second-highest field goal percentage of 51.2-percent. Against Penn State last season (Jan. 29), Ciaravino scored 20 points on 75% shooting from the floor (9-of-12), becoming the first Wildcat underclassman to score 20+ points on at least 75% shooting in a conference game since Dererk Pardon in 2015.
West started the final 17 games of last season, averaging 7.7 points and 3.9 assists per game over that span. The second-year guard set a program first-year record with 13 assists last season against Penn State (Jan. 29), and over the full season, he averaged 2.8 assists per game, ranking fourth among Big Ten first-years and the most by a Wildcat first-year since Bryant McIntosh averaged 4.7 in the 2014-15 season. In the Big Ten Tournament, he registered averages of 9.3 points and 3.3 assists per game, scoring 18 points and dishing out four assists in a win over Indiana. His 18 points matched the program’s record for points by a first-year in a Big Ten Tournament game.
Northwestern kicks off the 2026-27 regular season at home against Binghamton on Monday, Nov. 2. Tipoff from Welsh-Ryan Arena is set for 7:30 p.m. CT on B1G+ and WGN Radio 720.