Five questions that will determine Northwestern's 2025-26 basketball season
Northwestern’s men’s basketball season tips off on Monday night against Mercyhurst, as heaps of excitement and uncertainty surround what this 2025-26 squad has in store.
The Wildcats return star forward Nick Martinelli, who led the Big Ten in scoring last season, for his final season alongside six returners and eight newcomers: three transfers and five incoming freshmen. They’ve played two preseason exhibitions, an 80-72 loss at No. 16 Iowa State and a resurgent 100-65 win at home over Illinois State.
Here are five questions from WildcatReport that will shape the course of this upcoming campaign.
1. Can Arrinten Page be consistent?
The most crucial of Northwestern’s three transfers is center Arrinten Page. Page comes to Evanston as a junior after a year at Cincinnati, and before that one at USC, where he was brought in as a Top-100, four-star prospect in the Class of 2023.
Page has played in 58 games across his two seasons but hasn’t found the right fit, with career averages of just 3.3 points and 2.2 rebounds in 9.8 minutes per game. At Northwestern, he’ll be asked to play a much larger role.
“In his career, he hasn’t been a high-minute guy that’s been depended on… We need him. It’s not a secret,” head coach Chris Collins said after the Illinois State exhibition. “He’s a big part of what we’re doing and we really need him to be on the floor. We need to make sure he doesn’t play 10 minutes. We need him out there for 20+, for sure.”
Through two exhibitions in purple-and-white, Page has shown tantalizing highs and frustrating lows. In his first half at Iowa State and his second half from Illinois State, he scored 23 points, grabbed five rebounds and committed just two fouls in 18 minutes. He was a dominant force. He hit two 3s, soared for dunks and drew fouls and looked like the complete package.
In the second half at Iowa State and the first half from Illinois State, however, it was a very different story: three points, no rebounds and five fouls in 14 minutes. He was caught in the air and committed too many fouls, he drifted on offense and was kept off the glass.
The version of Page that Northwestern can extract on a night-to-night basis will be paramount to setting them up for success, especially when the depth behind him is so thin. Without Page, Northwestern will be forced into small-ball lineups with Martinelli at center, or with freshman 6-foot-9 forward Tyler Kropp conscripted into immediate service, as freshman 7-footer Cade Bennerman is a development project who is likely to redshirt.
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2. How good can Tre Singleton be?
Tre Singleton came into the program with immense hype and the preseason signs are pointing towards him living up to it. Collins has made him a Day One starter, a stark change from a coach that hasn’t always been comfortable depending on freshmen over the last three seasons. And Singleton isn’t just out there learning the ropes: he’s poised to be the team’s second-best player, behind Martinelli, the franchise player and already Singleton’s main mentor on roster.
He showed his ability to be a do-it-all forward in the Iowa State exhibition, with 14 points, five rebounds and three assists. His numbers fell off against Illinois State, but that felt more like Singleton taking a step back to create space for the debut of point guard Jayden Reid and a resurgent performance from combo guard KJ Windham, than signs of struggle.
Singleton is physically ready to contribute right away at 6-foot-8 and 215 pounds. He’s explosive, creative and humble, ready to work in the offensive and defensive flow of the team. There was no greater or quicker testament to the type of player that he can be than this baseline drive where he said he was looking to pass it back to Martinelli, realized he had a lane for himself, took another dribble and threw down a turnaround baseline dunk instead.
The sky is the limit for Singleton; it’s a matter of how quickly he can access that potential.
MORE ON NORTHWESTERN BASKETBALL: Takeaways: Wildcats beat Illinois State, 100-65, in final exhibition | Takeaways: Northwestern drops exhibition to No. 16 Iowa State, 80-72
3. What does a full season of Martinelli at the helm look like?
Martinelli came into his junior season as a drastically better player than during his sophomore campaign, ready to play Robin to Brooks Barnhizer‘s Batman. Then injuries hampered Barnhizer’s season and Martinelli took it up another level. He led the conference in scoring, averaging 20.5 points per game, and led the team to a 5-7 record in their last 12 games without Barnhizer. It was a truly Herculean performance that nearly put the team back on the NCAA Tournament bubble.
Now, as a senior, Martinelli will again be the Wildcats’ No. 1 option. His unique size and skill set will make sure of that. But this team has much more depth than last year’s, so his obscene workload of 37.6 minutes per game from a year ago should lessen. Teams have also had the entire offseason to prepare and attack any weaknesses in his game. Namely, his passing, and, specifically, his passing out of double teams. He averaged just 1.7 assists per game last season and Iowa State was able to turn Martinelli over six times in the exhibition opener. He still scored 20 points, but it was a concerning performance.
Northwestern doesn’t necessarily need him to create more assists, but they need him to be able to smartly navigate double-teams and make reliable choices under pressure to keep the offense flowing. There will be more help this season from players who can hit open shots and create them on their own, but the offense will still rest on Martinelli’s shoulders for 30+ games.
How he handles that over the course of a season, and what he’s been able to add to his game, will be crucial.
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4. Can Jayden Reid translate as a true point guard?
Jayden Reid had a minor injury that caused him to wear a boot on his left foot and miss the first exhibition, against Iowa State, on Oct. 26. But he made his debut just three days later against Illinois State. And what a splash he made, with 11 points and 11 assists in 21 minutes.
It was a taste of having a true, point guard running the show, something that Northwestern hasn’t seen much of since now-assistant coach Bryant McIntosh was in charge of the offense. Reid is listed at 5-foot-10 and 160 pounds, which might even be generous, yet still brings so much to the table. He was able to push the pace at point, pick up the opposing guard full court and still provide some scoring.
Reid comes to Evanston after a standout season at South Florida. He averaged 12.6 points, 3.6 assists and 1.8 steals per game, and it’s the last two stats that should pique Northwestern’s interest the most. Their offense will already rotate around Martinelli; now Reid can potentially add an extra dimension around that as a reliable ballhandler who can work through sets and pick-and-rolls, and even get to his own shot.
5. Can the sophomore shooting guards work together?
Northwestern has three exciting sophomores who can slot in at shooting guard: homegrown Angelo Ciaravino and Windham, plus transfer Max Green from Holy Cross. Each represents a different playing style: Ciaravino, a slashing 6-foot-6 athlete that can score around the rim; Windham, a shorter 6-foot-3 combo guard and perimeter creator; and Green, a lanky 6-foot-6 sharpshooter.
All three of them will be counted on to contribute.
“We’re going to be a night-to-night team with some of these guys [and their minutes],” said Collins. “Obviously, Nick is going to be out there, but we have a lot of good players that can help him and, depending on how the game is going, a certain game might mean more minutes for others… We have to have that kind of selflessness on this team.”
Northwestern seems to have four-fifths of their lineup set in stone: Reid as the point, Martinelli and Singleton on the wings as the lead scorers, and then Page at center. The shooting guard role will be where they have initial flexibility to shift or augment their identity: more athleticism and defense from Ciaravino, more shooting from Green, or more initiation via Windham.
Ciaravino looks like he’ll get the nod with the starters first, but if this trio learns how to work together, regardless of their individual minutes, it will be integral to a successful season.
