Wildcats Daily

Former Northwestern Guard Reaches NBA Finals with Oklahoma City Thunder

The four-year Wildcat graduated from the university in 2022.

Ryan Cole

Feb 25, 2022; University Park, Pennsylvania, USA; Northwestern Wildcats guard Ryan Greer (2) dribbles the ball around the outside of Penn State Nittany Lions guard Jalen Pickett (22) during the second half at Bryce Jordan Center. Penn State defeated Northwestern 67-60. Mandatory Credit: Matthew OHaren-Imagn Images
Feb 25, 2022; University Park, Pennsylvania, USA; Northwestern Wildcats guard Ryan Greer (2) dribbles the ball around the outside of Penn State Nittany Lions guard Jalen Pickett (22) during the second half at Bryce Jordan Center. Penn State defeated Northwestern 67-60. Mandatory Credit: Matthew OHaren-Imagn Images / Matthew OHaren-Imagn Images
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Former Northwestern guard Ryan Greer played with the Wildcats for four seasons from 2018 to 2022. Now, he's working on the biggest of stages for the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Finals against the Indiana Pacers.

Greer is currently a video analyst for the team, watching tape to try to help the Thunder gain an edge. This role is a common entry-level job for former players trying to get into the coaching ranks. Northwestern Basketball wished Greer well on Wednesday via X.

In his Northwestern career, Greer was the definition of a high-effort bench piece. He never started games consistently, but he never appeared in less than 23 across his four seasons.

Greer wasn't a prolific scorer, averaging just 2.4 points per game in his career, but he played good defense and got on the glass as best he could as a guard. By his senior season, No. 2 was averaging 19.2 minutes a night and almost four points per game, mostly still off the bench.

It is often the scrappier players who use their high basketball IQ and hustle to make up for other traits that make good coaches. As a video analyst just a few years out of school, it seems like Greer is trying to go down that route.

If Northwestern head coach Chris Collins is missing anything from his resume, it's Northwestern representation at the next level. Producing NBA players is hard, and it remains to be seen if that will be an eventual byproduct of this "golden age" of Northwestern hoops.

But Collins has been good at developing players like Greer into solid bench options. Because of that, it would not be shocking if the program starts to produce coaches at a higher rate. Greer could be the start.

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Ryan Cole
RYAN COLE

Ryan Cole is a writer for Northwestern Wildcats On SI covering every team on campus. He’s currently a junior at NU where he’s studying journalism and previously wrote and edited for Inside NU. He also studies business with an eye towards eventually helping develop business models to revive local news. In his free time, Cole enjoys watching sports, playing sports, reading the news and singing.

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