It seems like every story about Northwestern men’s basketball from mid-January to March began with the 2016-17 team, so let’s start there.
After making the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history, Northwestern returned six of the eight players on that squad who averaged more than 10 minutes per game. Four were starters, and the ‘Cats brought in Anthony Gaines, who was a top-10 recruit in school history at that point. NU seemed to have everything in place to enjoy another good year with a senior-heavy team, and to build on that success for years to come.