The Wildcats have 13 members of their projected 15-man roster for next season.
The transfer portal madness is winding down, and Chris Collins is putting the finishing touches on Northwestern's 2026-27 roster.
NU has already added six transfers and a walk-on freshman since the start of April. Collins secured yet another piece of the puzzle on Friday morning, earning a commitment from Columbia big man Ryan Soulis.
The 6-foot-10 forward spent two seasons at Richmond before joining the Ivy League's Lions for a year. As a redshirt sophomore in 2025-26, Soulis started 17 of his 26 games while averaging 5.8 points, 4.6 rebounds, 1.5 assists and just under a block per game. He notched a career-best 14 points and 10 rebounds against Hofstra in December.
Soulis originally hails from Athens, Greece, making him the fourth international transfer to commit to the Wildcats this cycle. Fellow big man Luke McEldon (Mount St. Mary's) is from England, wing Okku Federiko (Drake) grew up in Finland, and guard Aleksej Kostić (BYU) played professionally in his home country of Austria.
The signing marks an effort by Collins to revamp the Wildcats' frontcourt, following a season in which his team was consistently undersized and overmatched. Northwestern now boasts 6-foot-10 McEldon, 6-foot-10 Soulis and 7-foot-3 freshman Symon Ghai, as well as 6-foot-9 Federiko and 6-foot-8 UC Santa Barbara transfer Colin Smith.
However, the concern for Northwestern is that Collins' acquisitions are almost entirely from the mid-major level. While several of the 'Cats' seven transfers performed admirably for their previous schools, only Kostić has power conference experience. No one will be feeling sorry for the Wildcats in Big Ten play, and NU is betting on their upside by throwing the small-school standouts into the fire.
What Does Northwestern's Roster Look Like?
With Soulis joining the fold, Northwestern has earned commitments from or signed 13 players to its 2026-27 roster. That gives Collins room to add two more players to the fold, either through the transfer portal or the unsigned freshman class.
Northwestern's 13-man roster includes seven transfers, three returning players and three incoming freshmen.
Guards
- LA Pratt (6-foot-5, Grad Transfer — Northeastern)
- Jake West (6-foot-3, Sophomore)
- Phoenix Gill (6-foot-3, Sophomore)
- Aleksej Kostić (6-foot-4, Sophomore — BYU)
Wings
- Jack Karasinski (6-foot-7, Grad Transfer — Bellarmine)
- Colin Smith (6-foot-8, Grad Transfer — UC Santa Barbara)
- Angelo Ciaravino (6-foot-6, Junior)
- Jayden Hodge (6-foot-6, Freshman)
- Elijah Eschmeyer (6-foot-7, Freshman)
Forwards
- Luke McEldon (6-foot-10, Redshirt Junior — Mount St. Mary's)
- Ryan Soulis (6-foot-10, Redshirt Junior — Columbia)
- Okku Federiko (6-foot-9, Redshirt Sophomore — Drake)
- Symon Ghai (7-foot-3, Freshman)
