Now that the spring transfer portal window has closed and Northwestern’s roster is set, it’s time to take a look at what the Wildcats will look like next season.

The program entered the portal window with three primary needs: a point guard, a shooter and a big man. They went 3-for-3, landing Jayden Reid from USF, Max Green from Holy Cross and Arrinten Page from Cincinnati.

Add those three to the five incoming Class of 2025 signees, and head coach Chris Collins has eight new pieces to play with – and probably the deepest team of his tenure.

Next year’s team will afford Collins a lot of versatility, with several players who can play multiple positions. They will have a bench that should allow him to reduce the minutes for star Nick Martinelli, as well as give them the freedom to get out and run more often. After closing last season with a shortage of ball handlers, the Wildcats now have four point guards in Reid, Jordan Clayton, Jake West and KJ Windham.

There are concerns about depth at the center position, but sources say the coaching staff is confident that they have as many as five players who could man the 5 spot, and the size and length at other positions to use small-ball lineups.

What will the depth chart look like next season? This is our educated guess:

That's the roster grouped into into positions from 1 through 5. However, this team has several players who can man several different positions to fulfill Collins’ vision of what he calls “positionless basketball”. The Wildcats like to play with a point guard, a big man and three “wings”, and Collins will have several players he can mix-and-match to create a variety of different lineups.

Let’s dive into each position group.

At point guard, Reid, who averaged 12.6 points and 3.6 assists this season for USF last season, figures to be the starter. He led USF in scoring, assists and steals (56) last season.

Behind him, there will be a battle between Clayton and West to see who gets the No. 2 minutes. Clayton, who burned his redshirt last season after Jalen Leach suffered a season-ending ACL injury, proved his value as a ball handler. He is somewhat limited offensively with a streaky jumper, however, and West could challenge him for the backup spot if he is physically ready for the rigors of Big Ten play.

Don’t be surprised if Green emerges as the starting shooting guard. He was brought in to fill the need for a 3-point shooter (he averaged 38.1% for Holy Cross last season), but he is much more than that. As one source said, “He had no business playing at Holy Cross.”

Green is all of 6-foot-6 and has the athleticism to get to the rim and create his own offense, not just catch and shoot. He can play small forward, too. He averaged 14.9 points and 3.5 assists per game to win the Patriot League Rookie of the Year award last season. More than that, he’s been a big-time scorer at every level he’s played, and he put up a remarkable 36 points on 14-of-16 shooting in the 2024 Indiana-Kentucky All-Star Game against the best players in those two states. (Windham, in fact, was one of the Indiana players trying to guard him in that game.)

Windham, a true combo guard, had a sensational freshman season for Northwestern and really came on late in the year, scoring in double figures six times in the last eight games, including two 20-point efforts. He may not start, but his ability to play the 1 or the 2 may earn him starter’s minutes in a sixth-man role.

Gill is probably strictly a shooting guard at this point, but coaches would like to eventually develop him into more of a combo guard. He may not be ready for many minutes this year and, if there is a redshirt candidate this season, Gill might be it.

This is where Collins can have some fun with his lineup. He’s got two Swiss Army knives in Singleton and Martinelli who can play pretty much any position on the floor and will give the Wildcats two dangerous players who will create matchup problems for opponents.

Singleton has been described as a bigger Brooks Barnhizer. He can dribble, pass and shoot and is as polished a player coming out of high school that the Wildcats have landed in quite some time. He can handle the ball when necessary and has a very high basketball IQ, as well as an excellent feel for the game. He was the No. 77 player in the nation according to the 247 composite rankings.

Martinelli led the Big Ten in scoring last season at 20.5 points per game and also averaged a Big Ten-high 37.6 minutes. The offense will once again go through No. 2, but the Wildcats believe that this roster’s depth will allow them to get that number down significantly and lessen Martinelli’s load.

Behind those two starters will be Mullins and Ciaravino. Both are athletic wing players; Mullins is more of a defender, while Ciaravino tends more to scoring. Collins will be able to deploy them depending on what the lineup needs. Ciaravino, who saw his playing time taper off toward the end of last year, can take a big step in his development this season, particularly on the defensive end, and by spending an offseason in the weight room to build his strength.

Walkons Smith and Hurlburt will provide depth in the case of injury, or in blowouts.

This is the position fans are most anxious about. The Wildcats lost all three big men from last year’s team – Matt Nicholson and Keenan Fitzmorris ran out of eligibility, and Luke Hunger transferred. They replaced them with three players, but two of them are true freshmen.

NU coaches, however, feel like they have enough options at the position to compete. They opted to add another guard rather than another big and it makes sense – the Wildcats’ best teams have been driven by guards, not bigs.

The starter will be Page, a 6-foot-11 center transfer who spent one year at USC and one at Cincinnati. The former four-star, Top 50 prospect was largely a disappointment at both schools and averaged just 3.5 points and 2.3 rebounds per game for the Bearcats while seeing his playing time tumble down late in the season.

The hope here is that Collins and his staff, and another year of maturity, will help him elevate his game and reach his potential. The athleticism and ceiling are certainly there; the Wildcats are depending on him.

But Kropp is the guy that many are overlooking at this spot. People recognize the tantalizing athleticism and upside of Bennerman, but he is a development project who may not be a meaningful contributor for a while. Kropp, though, is 6-foot-9 and has a college-ready body at 220 pounds. He also played international basketball for Argentina and is more accustomed to banging under the basket. He reminds observers of Gavin Skelly, the sixth man for the 2017 NU tournament team who could play the 4 or 5 and provided a lift with his energy.

In addition to those top three, the staff feels like they have enough length elsewhere to play small ball and use guys like Martinelli and Singleton as a 5 for short stretches.

After three straight winning seasons, Northwestern is entering a new chapter. Just three of the 13 players on scholarship have been in the program for more than one year – Martinelli, Mullins and Clayton – while eight of them are in their first year as Wildcats. Ten of the 13 have at least two years of eligibility remaining.

They may take some time to come together, but this deep, versatile and athletic team could be an interesting one to watch next season – and one that could form the core of another extended run of success for the program in the future.