The 'Cats took a shot at a big-time target this afternoon
Today, Northwestern Men's Basketball and head coach Chris Collins extended an offer to a four-star point guard in the 2027 class.
Micah Gordon, a New Jersey native, is a hot commodity in the recruiting market. He announced his offer from the Wildcats via a post to X this afternoon.
Gordon, if he were to come to Evanston, would be Northwestern's highest ranked recruit ever, taking that title away from incoming freshman Jayden Hodge. He's ranked as the No. 37 player nationally by Rivals, and the No. 11 point guard.
The other industry standard site, 247Sports, views Gordon similarly. There, he's ranked as the No. 46 player in his class and the No. 12 point guard. Both sites agree that he is somewhat of a can't-miss prospect.
As a result, this is probably a long-shot for the Wildcats. Immediately after the Boo Buie-era, convincing a player like Gordon to come to this program would have been a bit of a stretch. Now, after two straight underwhelming seasons and a transfer portal exodus, the odds are probably even lower.
But Northwestern did put itself on the basketball map a few years back, and Collins is known nationally as a good coach to play for. Gordon would also benefit from NU's top-notch academics and facilities. There are reasons for players to come here, but the money is the question. It's currently a bit unclear just how much Collins has to play with.
Gordon currently plays at Plainfield High School in New Jersey. He stands at 5-foot-10 and 180 lbs, so he's a bit undersized, but his talent makes up for it at the point guard spot.
According to 247, his current outstanding offers besides Northwestern include Maryland, Mississippi State, Rutgers, Tennessee and South Florida. Frankly, it's not as daunting of a list of opponents as one might expect for a player ranked this highly.
The Terps could be a problem -- they tend to recruit pretty well in the Mid-Atlantic region of the country. Tennessee, Mississippi State and Rutgers are all power-four programs, so any one of them could end up being Gordon's destination.
It's also worth noting that, since he's a member of the 2027 class, there's still plenty of time. It's very likely that more teams will join Northwestern in pursuit of his services, but it's good for the Wildcats to get in early on a player like this if they want to have a modicum of a chance.
The overall takeaway here should be that Collins isn't backing down from trying to recruit at a higher level. This has been a noticeable trend in recent offseason, and it's worked. Northwestern has had some of its best ranked classes ever. Even if the on-court performance hasn't been there, Collins still believes the state of the program is on the rise.
