Northwestern basketball came as tantalizingly close to the NCAA Tournament as it ever had this past season, only to fall agonizingly short after several heartbreaking losses.
While various analysts have proclaimed that this past season was the team’s best chance of reaching the Holy Grail for a while, Northwestern faithful have a reason to be cautiously optimistic that the 2012-13 season could finally be the year the ‘Cats break free from college basketball infamy. The Wildcats will be adding a trio of big men that they hope will be an immediate boost to their much-maligned frontline.
Last month, the Wildcats made their biggest splash of the offseason, announcing they added Louisville transfer Jared Swopshire, a 6-foot-8-inch forward and former starter on an elite basketball program.
“He’s going to add some size and athleticism that we haven’t had on the frontline for the last couple years,” said junior guard Reggie Hearn, who established himself as a key starter last season. “He’ll provide some defense and rebounding…two things we’ve been lacking the last couple years.”
Hearn wasn’t kidding. Northwestern ranked 11th (out of 12) in scoring defense last season and was dead last by far in rebounding margin, giving up almost seven boards per game. Nebraska, which ranked one spot ahead of the Wildcats, had just a one-rebound difference per game.
Northwestern had its eye on Swopshire since early on in the season. After hearing that Louisville head coach Rick Pitino was not going to bring him back for his senior season, Northwestern Associate Head Coach Tavaras Hardy said the ‘Cats took notice, but could not contact Swopshire during the year due to NCAA regulations.
The Cardinals’ unexpected run to the Final Four kept the Wildcats waiting longer than they’d hoped to reach out to Swopshire. But within two weeks of Louisville’s loss to Kentucky, reports surfaced that Swopshire made his decision to come to Evanston.
“He’s going to add some toughness and leadership right off the bat,” Hardy said.
Two years ago, Swopshire started for the Cardinals and made a big impact for a team that navigated the difficult Big East to reach the NCAA Tournament. But his career hit a snag as a junior when a groin injury that required surgery forced him to miss the entire season. He had difficulty working his way back into the team’s rotation, leading to his eventual departure from the program.
However, Swopshire will graduate from Louisville later this month and will therefore be able to play immediately next season while pursuing a graduate degree at Northwestern.
“It will be nice to have a guy coming in that has played before,” junior guard Alex Marcotullio said. “It’s big because we’re losing a bit of experience as well.”
A lot of that experience will be lost on the offensive end – namely, the ‘Cats are losing John Shurna, the school’s all-time leading scorer and the Big Ten’s leading scorer during his senior season (20 points per game). And this past season, the Wildcats still struggled to score even with Shurna in the lineup.
It was frightening for fans of the program to imagine life without Shurna, but now Swopshire could potentially alleviate some of the concerns.
“We like big guys that can step out and make the three, which he can obviously do,” freshman point guard Dave Sobolewski said.
But while it is a highly touted move, Swopshire's arrival will not be Northwestern’s only big addition for next season.
Northwestern also recently announced the signing of incoming freshman Alex Olah, a 6-foot-11-inch Romanian native who played high school basketball in Indiana. Some of Northwestern’s coaches think Olah’s signing could be the real coup of the offseason.
“He has a chance to be one of the best big men we’ve had in this program,” Hardy said of Olah. “I think his skill set fits the way we would like to play….Our system is perfect for him because we’re not going to make him one-dimensional.”
In high school, Olah played for two state championship teams, and his winning legacy could play a factor in getting Northwestern over the top.
“It helps with the culture of the team, just being used to winning and expecting to win,” said Sobolewski, whose high school, Benet Academy, went 29-1 during his senior season.
The Wildcats are also adding Nikola Cerina, a junior big man from Serbia who transferred last season from TCU. Cerina was forced to sit out the 2011-12 season due to NCAA transfer rules, but figures act as a physical inside presence next year.
“Nikola is very strong. Very strong,” Hearn said. “Between him, Alex and Swop, we’re going to have a pretty nice frontline.”
The Big Ten will be absolutely stacked this season so Northwestern’s road to the tournament will not be easy. In an ESPN early preseason Top 25 poll, the Big Ten leads all conferences with six ranked teams, including a rejuvenated Indiana at No. 1.
But in college basketball’s closest imitation of the NBA’s free agent push, the Wildcats filled some of their biggest needs, added depth and prepped themselves for another exhilarating run at history.
“There’s not a player on our roster that we don’t feel good about,” Hardy said. “In years past, we haven’t been able to say that, so it’s exciting.”