Yesterday, Northwestern fans received the unpleasant news that freshman forward Tre Singleton decided to enter the transfer portal. It was an unexpected blow to next year's roster and beyond.

The 'Cats have been a bit of an enigma under head coach Chris Collins in recent seasons, managing to retain most of their talent in the portal era. After watching the likes of Boo Buie, Brooks Barnhizer and Nick Martinelli play their entire careers in purple, most of us assumed Singleton would definitely be back for next season at a minimum.

His freshman campaign was far from perfect -- he shot just 17% from three and looked like a freshman at times -- but Singleton was NU's highest ranked recruit ever when he committed. His future is bright, and now it will likely come in a different uniform.

The reaction from Northwestern fans on social media hasn't exactly been measured, and I get it. If people want to dooms day, frankly, there weren't many worse things that could have happened to the Wildcats this offseason than what happened yesterday. Save for Jake West leaving or Collins taking another job, this was probably the worst.

But after some time to reflect, I think the logical approach to this news is to certainly be concerned, but not to panic. Here's my thought process:   

First of all, this is very bad news for the immediate future. Collins will surely bring in some transfer talent, and this team will get better from here, not worse. But the 'Cats were banking on Singleton taking a step and being a massive piece of the puzzle in 2026-27.

As a freshman, he was already a consistent starter and a key cog, albeit for a poor Northwestern team. As a sophomore, I think Singleton will probably average double-digit points, and if the three-point shot improves, the sky is the limit. 

But there's a deeper reason to be worried about this if you are a Wildcat fan. Here's what Collins said about roster construction and top-down commitment at the end of this season:

"It's got to trickle down to the administration and coaching, and everybody's got to be in alignment in order to win," Collins said. "The programs that are winning, that's what they're doing. They're aligned. There's a commitment to winning with resources, with investment. There's no reason that we can't be one of those places in my mind. I'm fully convinced. But it's going to take everybody together to want to do that."

Look, this doesn't mean that Northwestern isn't committed to retaining men's basketball talent at high price points. But it certainly isn't a great sign. If Singleton's decision to leave was about money, then that means Collins didn't have enough to offer him even with Martinelli coming off the books.

Northwestern's head coach signed an extension last offseason, but if he starts to lose players because he can't match NIL deals from bigger programs, that likely drastically increases the probability of him leaving for greener pastures. I don't have to tell any 'Cats' fans how bad that would be.

Again, we don't know if that's why Singleton is leaving. But it's possible, and there are some reasons why it would make sense. For one, the basketball program has only recently captured the hearts and the passion of NU students. Those students aren't donors yet. The donors almost certainly are bigger football fans, and there's only so. much money to go around.

On top of that, the school needs football to stay relevant as it opens up the most expensive stadium in college football history. That is obviously paramount, and I can't blame them for wanting to invest in football.

This is all hypothetical. I'm going to explain why I'm far from panicking about it, but it's fair to have these thoughts enter your mind. They aren't illogical.

This could very well not have been about money. Collins might be as well equipped with funds as he's ever been, and he might wow us in the portal and put this program right back on a good track. 

Is it believable that Singleton just wants to play closer to home in Indiana somewhere? Absolutely. Is it possible that he was left with a bad taste in his mouth after a pretty brutal season in Evanston and just wants to win? 100%.

We can't rule either of those things out, and we shouldn't. It's not worth going down the panic road over one player who made one decision. As I said before, Northwestern's retention rate has been fantastic, and we have to see a pattern before we know if that reality is actually shifting.

Generally speaking, both Collins and head football coach David Braun have seemed fairly positive about the direction of the athletic department. They both seem to have good relationships with Athletic Director Mark Jackson, and I'd have absolutely argued 24 hours ago that both programs were in a solid spot.

At the end of the day, Singleton did struggle from three, and he's not a ball-handler. He showed some serious flashes in the post playing bully-ball, and he's got the size and the length to be a high quality defender. But he's one player. Northwestern has more highly ranked recruits coming in -- Jayden Hodge and Symon Ghai -- and it hasn't even began signing transfers.

So, I'm here to say, relax. This could be the start of an ugly period for the Wildcats, but we just don't know. I'm inclined to wait and see and to continue to trust Collins and the athletic department to keep this team relevant. It's done as good of a job as it has in its history over the last half-decade.