Chris Collins and Northwestern are about to enter a crucial offseason as they try to add enough talent to get the program back to the NCAA Tournament next season.
According to Joe Tipton of Rivals, that process is already underway. This morning, he published a story listing the 'Cats as a team in pursuit of highly-regarded transfer-guard Jake Fiegen from Cornell.
Fiegen is a grad-transfer, and he's spent his entire career to date in one place. Two years ago, he started receiving consistent starting minutes and scored 10.9 points per game. This past season, he exploded for 17.1 points per game on 54% shooting from the field. He also shot 41% from beyond the arc, which is something Northwestern was sorely missing all year.
Fiegen is a larger guard -- listed at 6-foot-4, which is another thing the 'Cats could use since both Jake West and Jayden Reid are on the smaller side. Flat out, everything about this player makes sense for the Wildcats, and it's unsurprising NU is in the mix.
He's far from a sure thing to come to Evanston, though, as it's early in his recruitment process and other programs are already targeting him as well. According to Tipton's article, DePaul, Ohio State, Indiana, Villanova, Wake Forest and Vanderbilt are also kicking the tires. He also says that Fiegen is expected to take a few visits after the National Championship game and then make his decision.
Historically, Northwestern has done well with portal targets coming from Ivy League schools. Take Ryan Langborg, for example, who transferred in from Penn before the 2023-24 season. He was a top guard out of the conference, and he chose Northwestern to stay at a highly regarded school and compete in the Big Ten.
There is, perhaps, no arena where NU's academic standing should help its athletics as much as trying to recruit out of the Ivy League. That's a big advantage for Chris Collins, and it should help give him a leg up -- at a bare minimum it should help him get Fiegen to visit.
Acquiring a larger guard who can shoot should be one of the primary goals this offseason. If Northwestern can relegate Reid to bench minutes, it could help them offer different looks throughout a game to opponents.
The other priority will likely be to add a big man. The 'Cats have freshman Symon Ghai coming in, and they likely have Arrinten Page coming back, but they could use some insurance at the position after Cade Bennerman decided to transfer earlier this weekend.
Fiegen would be a fantastic start to the offseason, but nothing will be decided until the NCAA Tournament has concluded.