When Northwestern coach Chris Collins announced that Brooks Barnhizer will miss the remainder of this season with a broken foot, he got very emotional. And Collins’ emotional breakdown is understandable, given how much he loves Barnhizer.
He loves Barnhizer like a son, and he said so today, following Northwestern’s 75-69 loss at home to the #17 Wisconsin Badgers.
Northwestern coach Chris Collins makes it official, in a very emotional way (and very understandably/justifiably so):
Brooks Barnhizer is done for the season.
His injury is not career ending, but season ending— Paul M. Banks (@PaulMBanks) February 1, 2025
Both coach and player love this game of basketball more than anything, so this news is absolutely devastating, for both. While Chris Collins made it clear that Brooks Barnhizer can play basketball again someday, he won’t ever so again in purple and white.
The second leading scorer on Northwestern sees his senior season, and thus his college career, come to an end. As Collins said himself, the team belongs to Nick Martinelli now.
Barnhizer’s final game was Wednesday night, he scored 10 points in 37 minutes as Northwestern lost 79-72 at home to Rutgers. But you have to see what Chris Collins had to say about this sad news, in its entirety.
The video of that is below:
Coach Collins announced today that Brooks Barnhizer will miss the remainder of the season with a foot injury.
We love you, 13 💜 pic.twitter.com/kLbBNpsCh5
— Northwestern Basketball (@NUMensBball) February 1, 2025
One of the best players to don the purple during the Chris Collins era, Barnhizer’s season ends having averaged 17.1 points and 8.8 rebounds per game.
He was a big part of the first Northwestern team to go to back-to-back NCAA Tournaments.
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, the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America and RG. 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, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter.