There were a lot of surprises this transfer portal season for Northwestern, as most of its team elected to head elsewhere for next season.
Some of the players who went portaging made a lot of sense. Take K.J. Windham or Arrinten Page, for example. Others, like freshman Tre Singleton, who was formerly the highest ranked recruit in Wildcat history and started most games last season, were shocking.
One of the bigger surprises was Tyler Kropp, a 6-foot-9 forward who was also part of last year's freshman class and also played most nights for head coach Chris Collins. There has been a lot of hand wringing and speculation about which players Collins may have not really wanted back on his team next season, but it's hard to believe Kropp was among that group.
Today, Washington State Men's Basketball posted to its X account that it landed Kropp for next season. He'll head out west to play for head coach David Riley, who is entering his third season at the helm.
In his freshman campaign, Kropp played in 31 games, starting 10 of them, and he earned those minutes. He only averaged 3.1 points and 2.1 rebounds per game, but those numbers are far from the full story.
Defensively, Kropp is a wall. He's not always quick enough or athletic enough to hang with Big Ten caliber players, but he's very technically sound and he takes up a lot of space in the lane.
Northwestern put Kropp in a terrible spot last season. The team was severely lacking in center depth, and Kropp was forced to play a lot of minutes out of position at the five. As a result, his offensive game was often being neutralized by defenders who were significantly taller than him, and he had to fight hard in the post on defense.
Given the circumstances, he did an admirable job holding his own. On offense, Kropp knew to get the ball to Nick Martinelli whenever possible. He wasn't forcing up dumb shots or trying to penetrate through swarming defense. Kropp took the shots that were given to him, and he has a smooth enough stroke to knock them down.
On defense, he showed significant promise, and he wasn't really a step down from the seven-foot Arrinten Page despite the height difference.
For both of those reasons, it would be surprising if Collins didn't want Kropp back on the roster for 2026-27. Instead, he'll be at Washington State, where he'll hope to take the next steps in his college career -- refining his offensive game and settling in at more of a true forward position.