EVANSTON — The cameras tell a lot of the story.
Before Northwestern's season-opener, local TV stations flocked to Blomquist Recreation center, a gym that typically houses intramurals and pick-up games. Reporters from all over the area came just to get their chance to talk to the first preseason top-25 team in program history.
The Northwestern team that made history and punched the school's first-ever ticket to the Big Dance took most people by surprise. Its encore would not. Everyone was ready. The pieces were in place. The returning core of battle-tested veterans, a historic jumping-off point, a rapidly ascending coach, new facilities in the pipeline and a quartet of talented new recruits waiting in the wings — all there.