Thunder's Barnhizer Driven by Competition in Pre-Draft Process After Injury

The former Northwestern star wasn't overly concerned with the Draft itself.

Northwestern Wildcats guard Brooks Barnhizer (13) drives to the basket Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025, during the NCAA men’s basketball game against the Purdue Boilermakers at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Ind. | Alex Martin/Journal and Courier / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

There were plenty of frustrating moments during Northwestern's 2024-25 season that failed to yield a tournament berth for the first time in three years. Bad calls. Untimely injuries. Disheartening play late in games. But by far the saddest moment was when head coach Chris Collins announced that Brooks Barnhizer, "The Captain," would miss the remainder of the season with a foot injury.

It was crushing. Not only would Barnhizer no longer be able to play for a team he so clearly loved to play for, folks wondered what it meant for his NBA chances.

Fast forward a few months, and Barnhizer is now preparing for the NBA Summer League after the Oklahoma City Thunder selected him with the No. 44 pick in the NBA Draft. It all came together for the Northwestern star after an intense pre-Draft process that included 16 workouts with teams.

In a press conference this week, Barnhizer talked about that process and how his injury positively impacted him. He said that, because he'd been out for so long, he was eager to get back on the court and not bogged down by the intense work load.

"I had some work to do if I really wanted to be drafted or just be signed by a team," Barnhizer said. "So, I really looked at it as every time I get to go into one of these workouts I can really compete."

Competition was a big theme as Barnhizer discussed what was on his mind as he prepared for the Draft. And he's always been an obvious competitor--diving for balls, scrapping for rebounds, doing the little things.

It isn't lost on him that he was robbed of an opportunity to keep competing in purple and white last season by his injury. That was on his mind, motivating him in these workouts with other players competing for attention.

"I missed the last 10 or 13 games, whatever I missed, and that broke my heart," Barnhizer said. "But now, through this process, I was like you know what I can play some of the guys I missed out on playing the last 13 games of the season fully healthy. I can really push the envelope and go out there and try to be the best version of myself."

Barnhizer's approach, focusing on being a high-level competitor and taking things one day at a time, clearly worked. Oklahoma City certainly noticed.

"I think people saw the character that I try to emulate but also just the player and how much basketball does mean to me. I think it was really a match made in heaven that I ended up in a place like Oklahoma City,” Barnhizer said