Thinking ahead to next year and what we will need to replace, there are a lot of spots we will need to fill for the 2026-27 season:
Returning - Likely
- Connor Essegian
- Quentin Rhymes
- Pryce Sandfort
- Cale Jacobsen
Returning - Hopefully
- Berke Büyüktuncel
- Braden Frager
- Ugnius Jaruševičius
- Leo Curtis
Incoming Freshmen:
- Colin Rice
- Jacob Lanier
Returning - Unlikely to Contribute:
- Will Cooper
- Henry Burt
- Justin Bolis
Out of Eligibility
- Sam Hoiberg
- Kendall Blue
- Jamarques Lawrence
- Jared Garcia
- Rienk Mast
My Guess At Starting 5 Based on who is listed as hopefully/likely here without any other additions:
- Sandfort
- Uggie
- Frager
- Berke
- Jacobsen
Rotation Guys:
- Essegian
- Rhymes
- Rice
- Lanier
A few thoughts on the above…
- We need a point guard BADLY. Jacobsen will not (can not) be the starting PG here next year. This is probably portal target #1 for NU
- Can Frager and Uggie play together at the same time as Berke? I think the two of them (Frager and Uggie) are different enough to be able to start together and then likely both will play at times depending on game flow and other lineups. Uggie is incredibly athletic and can really shoot… they should be able to play on the floor at the same time at times to give us the right size matchups when needed. Ideally these two would spell one other IMO
- Think we need another proven wing to add to the above from the portal as well as a combo guard to replace Lawrence. Off the dribble playmaking (including passing) is the offensive concern for me with next year’s roster at first glance
- Lanier and Rice are both good pieces but I am not expecting either to be major impact guys as Freshmen. Doesn’t mean that they won’t/can’t be in the rotation, just don’t know that you can rely on them to be major factors if you want to have a season like we’re having this year as true freshmen
- I love what Garcia can give us off the bench this year and I think he’s been pretty underrated for us on this year’s team. His minutes won us the Illinois game and he brings a change up we don’t have out of our primary lineups when he’s on the floor. Would love to see who can play that role next year - is it Uggie or someone who isn’t on the roster?
- Is Curtis going to be able to contribute next year or will he still be a year away? We could really use a backup big/rim protector, can Leo fill that role or do we need to have someone from the portal come in for that spot?
- I feel like Essegian’s role will be best coming off the bench as a scorer. He would be a phenomenal sixth man.
Top portal needs:
- Point Guard
- Combo Guard
- High-level shooting wing
- Backup big/rim protector
Wonder if we can’t find another redshirt type guy too from the high school ranks once the coaching carousel happens and guys are released from LOIs, etc. Would be nice if we can have a guy follow the same path as some of our previous redshirts, we’ve seemingly got a lot of guys to point to who have redshirted here and made impacts when you can point to Walker, Hoiberg, Jacobsen, Mast, Uggie, Rhymes, Frager, etc
Returning - Likely
- Connor Essegian
- Quentin Rhymes
- Pryce Sandfort
- Cale Jacobsen
Returning - Hopefully
- Berke Büyüktuncel
- Braden Frager
- Ugnius Jaruševičius
- Leo Curtis
Incoming Freshmen:
- Colin Rice
- Jacob Lanier
Returning - Unlikely to Contribute:
- Will Cooper
- Henry Burt
- Justin Bolis
Out of Eligibility
- Sam Hoiberg
- Kendall Blue
- Jamarques Lawrence
- Jared Garcia
- Rienk Mast
My Guess At Starting 5 Based on who is listed as hopefully/likely here without any other additions:
- Sandfort
- Uggie
- Frager
- Berke
- Jacobsen
Rotation Guys:
- Essegian
- Rhymes
- Rice
- Lanier
A few thoughts on the above…
- We need a point guard BADLY. Jacobsen will not (can not) be the starting PG here next year. This is probably portal target #1 for NU
- Can Frager and Uggie play together at the same time as Berke? I think the two of them (Frager and Uggie) are different enough to be able to start together and then likely both will play at times depending on game flow and other lineups. Uggie is incredibly athletic and can really shoot… they should be able to play on the floor at the same time at times to give us the right size matchups when needed. Ideally these two would spell one other IMO
- Think we need another proven wing to add to the above from the portal as well as a combo guard to replace Lawrence. Off the dribble playmaking (including passing) is the offensive concern for me with next year’s roster at first glance
- Lanier and Rice are both good pieces but I am not expecting either to be major impact guys as Freshmen. Doesn’t mean that they won’t/can’t be in the rotation, just don’t know that you can rely on them to be major factors if you want to have a season like we’re having this year as true freshmen
- I love what Garcia can give us off the bench this year and I think he’s been pretty underrated for us on this year’s team. His minutes won us the Illinois game and he brings a change up we don’t have out of our primary lineups when he’s on the floor. Would love to see who can play that role next year - is it Uggie or someone who isn’t on the roster?
- Is Curtis going to be able to contribute next year or will he still be a year away? We could really use a backup big/rim protector, can Leo fill that role or do we need to have someone from the portal come in for that spot?
- I feel like Essegian’s role will be best coming off the bench as a scorer. He would be a phenomenal sixth man.
Top portal needs:
- Point Guard
- Combo Guard
- High-level shooting wing
- Backup big/rim protector
Wonder if we can’t find another redshirt type guy too from the high school ranks once the coaching carousel happens and guys are released from LOIs, etc. Would be nice if we can have a guy follow the same path as some of our previous redshirts, we’ve seemingly got a lot of guys to point to who have redshirted here and made impacts when you can point to Walker, Hoiberg, Jacobsen, Mast, Uggie, Rhymes, Frager, etc
