At 10:01 a.m. Central time on Monday morning, Northwestern fans got the news they were hoping for and the race for the Big Ten championship next season got a whole lot more interesting.
Star point guard Boo Buie announced on Twitter that he would return to Northwestern for a final season after weighing the possibility of entering the NBA Draft.
With their floor general back, the Wildcats, who finished second in the Big Ten last season for the first time since 1958-59, figure to be a contender for a conference title they haven't won in 90 years.
Buie, a first-team All-Big Ten pick this season, announced his decision with a 44-second video. The video began by sounding like a farewell, with Buie extolling Northwestern's virtues, explaining his dream to play at the next level and thanking Wildcat fans for their support in voiceover.
"But I'm not done yet," he said near the end. "I'm back."
Buie, Northwestern's leader in scoring and assists, was the star point guard for one of the best Wildcat teams in history this season. A consensus choice to finish 13th in the Big Ten, the Wildcats instead won 12 conference games for the first time in school history and finished as the runner-ups, beating a school-record four ranked teams in the process.
Northwestern wound up earning the program's second-ever NCAA Tournament bid. They beat Boise State in the first round of the West Regional in Sacramento, Calif., before succumbing to UCLA in the second round.
Buie averaged 17.3 points and 4.5 assists per game for the Wildcats to rank sixth and fifth in the conference, respectively. He was the first Wildcat to receive first-team All-Big Ten honors since John Shurna in 2012. Buie was also a finalist for the Bob Cousy Award given to the nation's best point guard.
Buie scored a career-high 35 points in a road loss to Illinois on Feb. 23, and posted 26 points, three blocks, three steals and three assists in the Wildcats historic win over No. 1 Purdue on Feb. 12. He then hit a game-winning floater with two seconds to beat No. 14 Indiana three nights later.
Buie already ranks in the all-time Northwestern Top 10 in both scoring (1,541 points, 10th) and assists (447, fifth) and will move further up the leader board for each category this season.
Northwestern had one of the best backcourts in the nation last season with Buie running the point and Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Chase Audige at shooting guard. Like Buie, Audige also declared for the NBA Draft in April while retaining his college eligibility. If Audige follows Buie's lead and returns to Evanston, Northwestern could be one of the frontrunners for the Big Ten title.
The Wildcats haven't been sitting idly while their two biggest stars made their decision. They added two key backcourt pieces through the transfer portal in the last month, collecting commitments from grad transfer Ryan Langborg from Princeton, and Justin Mullins, a transfer from Denver who has three years of eligibility remaining.
The program also picked up big man Blake Preston from Liberty and extended the contract of head coach Chris Collins through 2028.
Whether or not Audige returns, Northwestern is set up well for next season with Buie, the program's heart-and-soul, back in the lineup.
