On Thursday night, Nick Martinelli played his final collegiate game. The Northwestern forward was subbed out early, as a badge of honor that he truly deserved, in his team’s blowout loss to Purdue. The #7 seed Boilermakers knocked the #15 seed Wildcats out of the Big Ten Tournament, on the competition’s third day, by a very window-dressed 81-68 score.
Martinelli scored 25 points, on 10-16 shooting, receiving a massive standing ovation as he exited.
Martinelli leaves the NU program in very rarified air, having led the Big Ten in scoring in back-to-back years. No other Wildcat has ever done that. Nick Martinelli also broke the program’s single season scoring record in 2025-26.
That record was held by, wait for it, Nick Martinelli in 2024-25. It was an emotional goodbye for Martinelli on the court.
Northwestern head coach Chris Collins got very emotional in the postgame press conference.
“Just to see his progression, how he’s just gotten better — and not only that, how he’s been able to become a young man,” Collins said of Martinelli.
“What’s not lost in this — he was a straight A student at Northwestern. I don’t want to say he’s done, he’s got one more quarter left, but the guy never got a B.
“How about that? So we talk about all the time he’s in the gym, but this is someone who has a standard of excellence with everything he does. Just couldn’t be more proud of him.”
Last season, Collins, Martinelli and company said goodbye to Brooks Barnhizer, who was a NBA Draft pick, and made the Oklahoma City Thunder roster. Barnhizer was the program’s first NBA Draft pick since Evan Eschmeyer in 1999. NBA Draft picks don’t come around these parts too often, so when they do, it’s a big deal!
In 2023-24, NU said goodbye to their program’s all-time leading scorer, the iconic Boo Buie.
You can instantly put Buie into NU basketball G.O.A.T. discussion.
So the past three seasons have seen Collins forced into replacing…Northwestern basketball Mt. Rushmore kind of players. And this year was a rough one.
The Cats finished 13-18 overall and 5-15 in the Big Ten. That’s the third worst season of the 13 year coach Collins era. So once again the pressure is on.
After back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances (again something totally unprecedented in the history of Northwestern basketball), Collins got a nice contract extension, until 2030.
He’s also among the best paid coaches in the Big Ten, which, obviously, puts him amongst the highest paid in the nation. So he needs to find the next Buie, Barnhizer and Martinelli.
He needs to find it fast, so who’s up next? Jake West had a nice Big Ten Tournament. First year players Tre Singleton and Tyler Kropp flashed some potential at times, so maybe one of them could someday become The Next Big Northwestern Basketball Thing.
Colins had more retrospection on Martinelli and his impact the past few years.
“I think historically on the program for me, I’ve only been here 13 years, guys,” Collins said.
“Obviously growing up in Chicago, I followed Northwestern a little bit. I’m a basketball junkie. I know a lot of the players. I know a lot of the history of the guys who have come here before.
“I just think, when you look at the things he was able to accomplish, the numbers speak for themselves, but also the winning component. He was a key part of two NCAA Tournament teams. He was a key part of our two most successful seasons in the history of the program.
“He’s got to go down — I haven’t looked at it, but with multiple 20-plus win seasons, 17 last year, 15 this year. He’s got to be one of the winningest players in program history.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network, RG.org and Ratings.org. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes and the Washington Post.