Northwestern's Nick Martinelli is known for many things. Of course, there's "the flipper," his patented take on the jump-hook. There's his nickname, "Nicky Buckets," because, well, he gets buckets. There's his dogged determination and grit that's consistently evident on the court--shades of his good friend Brooks Barnhizer.
But if you speak to folks in Evanston, the other thing they may tell you about the senior forward is that he was massively snubbed of an All-Big Ten First Team spot last year. They have a pretty good case, and it's relatively simple--Martinelli led the conference in scoring. Safe to say, Northwestern fans felt their star was disrespected.
But maybe a wrong has now been righted, or at least salvaged in some way. Today, Martinelli was named to the Preseason All-Big Ten Team alongside 10 other players.
The honor comes ahead of a huge season for Martinelli, a player looking to follow in Barnhizer's footsteps and make it to the next level. But as Northwestern fans know, he's all in on delivering this program another NCAA Tournament berth while he's at it.
Martinelli represents an end of an era. He's the last player from the Boo Buie core left on the roster, a group that led the 'Cats to two tournament runs and beat No. 1 Purdue in Welsh-Ryan Arena not once, but twice.
It was a special group of players, but Northwestern is looking forward as a program. Head coach Chris Collins has his highest ranked recruiting class coming in this season. He just landed four-star Jayden Hodge to start off his 2026 class with a bang.
It's now Martinelli's job to help hold this group to the same standard the team has adhered to in the past few seasons. He's now the one tasked with being the team leader and helping develop these younger players.
Of course, he also has to live up to this honor on the court, and his play over the past few years should not be understated.
Martinelli has developed tremendously over his time in purple. As a freshman, he saw his playing time increase down the stretch, but he struggled a bit defensively and wasn't nearly as confident offensively.
Last year, he averaged 20.5 points per game and 6.2 rebounds, emerging as the 'Cats go-to option when they needed a bucket. He's much better defensively now, too.
Given Northwestern's inexperienced roster, it's going to need Martinelli to score, and it's going to need him to score a lot, especially early. If he builds on his performance last year, then the entire conference is on notice.
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