After last week's mass exodus at the onset of transfer portal season, Chris Collins and Northwestern's men's basketball program have been tasked with rebuilding most of its roster.
One area that needs a ton of attention (not that any position group is finalized with just six players remaining) is the front court. Northwestern's projected scholarship chart for the 2026-27 season includes just one big man -- incoming freshman Symon Ghai. Angelo Ciaravino, Jake West, Max Green, Phoenix Gill and Jayden Hodge are all, arguably, guards -- none of them are fours or fives.
Today, College Basketball Content posted news to X that the Wildcats are looking into former Mount St. Mary's big man Luke McEldon. The London native is set to visit Evanston tomorrow, according to the post.
McEldon seems like a fairly safe target for Collins and the Wildcats. Beginning his career with Santa Clara, he didn't get much playing time until he transferred to Mount St. Mary's last offseason. In 2025-26, he averaged 11.7 points per game and 6.2 rebounds per contest. He also shot the ball at a 64.5% clip.
While the post on X does say other Big Ten and ACC teams are interested, McEldon isn't a massive name in this year's portal cycle. He's had just one year of production in the MAAC, and even in that season his numbers weren't eye popping.
But Northwestern needs players, and the rising senior absolutely has the potential to be a rotational piece in the right system in a higher-level conference. If a player like McEldon is the prize of NU's offseason, then that might be a problem, but adding depth to a roster with far too few players currently on it is a good idea.
It's also crucial that Northwestern gets the front court situation right. Last year, it struggled mightily to compete with the bigger teams in the conference, and a lot of that was because it was lacking depth in the front court. Ghai has a lot of potential, but it would be unfair to put the whole load on him as a freshman. Collins has to have other options.
By getting McEldon into the building early, Northwestern is off to a good start. There isn't a ton of time during the portal season for these players to visit schools, so the fact that he's coming to Evanston is a good sign.
Still, even if the 'Cats get McEldon in purple, they will probably add more players to the front court. Last week, this went from a retool to a full-on rebuild. Northwestern needs to get a lot of players, and it's all going to happen in the next couple of weeks.