Last Sunday, Northwestern lost half of its dynamic backcourt duo when Boo Buie declared for the NBA Draft. This Sunday, the Wildcats lost the other half when Chase Audige followed in his teammate's footsteps.
However, both are maintaining their college eligibility, meaning they could still opt to return to Evanston to make another run at a Big Ten title and try to return to the NCAA Tournament next season.
Audige, a second-team All-Big Ten pick and the conference co-Defensive Player of the Year, announced his decision on Twitter.
"To even be writing this is a blessing," said Audige in the statement. He then thanked his family, Northwestern, head coach Chris Collins, his teammates and friends, and NU fans for their support.
"This year was extremely special, and I will never forget the memories that were made."
Audige has already used five years of his college eligibility -- one at William & Mary and four at Northwestern. He has one year left because he played during the "free" COVID year of 2020-21.
Audige was Northwestern's second-leading scorer, behind Buie, with 14.1 points per game this season. He also put up 3.4 rebounds and finished second on the team in assists with 98, again behind Buie.
Arguably the best two-way guard in the Big Ten, Audige led the conference with 81 steals.
A streaky scorer, Audige bested 20 points five times this season and scored a career-high 28 points in a win over DePaul in December. He followed that up by scoring 24 points in a victory over Brown to surpass the 1,000-point mark during his career.
Audige was the best transfer of Collins' 10 years in Evanston, coming to Northwestern in 2019 after a year at William & Mary. He sat out the 2019-20 season per NCAA rules at the time and immediately moved into the starting lineup the next year for Northwestern. He started 81 of 82 games as a Wildcat and averaged 12.3 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game during his career.
Defense was always Audige's calling card, which fit right in for a team that rebuilt itself around a defensive identity to advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament this season. He was a presence in the passing lanes all season long and came up with six steals in a win at Indiana on Jan. 8, the most for a Wildcat in at least a decade.
The Wildcats beat the AP No. 1 team in the nation (Purdue), beat four ranked teams and posted 12 Big Ten wins, all firsts in program history. They also finished second in the Big Ten conference, their highest ranking since 1958-59.
Audige was the catalyst for the landmark win over the Boilermakers, putting the team on his back in the unforgettable Feb. 12 win. Purdue led by eight when he got hot, scoring 10 points in the final four minutes to rally Northwestern to the 64-58 victory to set off an epic court-storming at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Losing both Audige and Buie would be difficult to overcome for the Wildcats, who would have to add pieces in the portal to replace them, as well as backup guard Julian Roper II, who has already entered the transfer portal. Northwestern has two freshman guards, Jordan Clayton and Parker Strauss, arriving this summer, but asking rookies to replace veterans like those would be a tall task.
In addition to the backcourt losses, the Wildcats also lost four-year starting forward Robbie Beran, who entered the transfer portal last week, as well as key backup big man Tydus Verhoeven.
Audige and Buie will both get feedback on their NBA Draft stock and then probably make another decision on whether or not to return to college. Neither figure to have a great chance of being selected by an NBA team.
Sources say that Northwestern’s collective is prepared to put together attractive NIL deals for both players that could potentially surpass anything they could receive as pros overseas -- or compete with any deals they might get from other colleges should they choose to enter the transfer portal at a later date.
The tough part for Northwestern is that they will have to wait and see what each of them decide before making too many personnel moves this offseason. Right now, everything is up in the air for the Wildcats, who could wind up as Big Ten contenders if they return, or also-rans if they don't.
