All-Big Ten Northwestern Star Nick Martinelli Gets Honest About NBA Chances
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Senior Nick Martinelli may be one of the most prolific scorers in the history of Northwestern University men's basketball, but he's no sure thing to make the NBA.
During a new conversation with The Chicago Tribune's Colleen Kane, the 6-foot-7 combo forward spoke openly about his chances of making the league.
As Kane observes, the 21-year-old is currently ranked as the No. 84 prospect in Jeremy Woo of ESPN's February 2026 mock draft.
“Obviously I don’t know what’s to come,” he said. “I could just be a 9-to-5er next year. You never know what’s going to happen. I’m going to work my butt off and whatever happens, whatever opportunities showcase themselves for me, that’s between me and God. And whatever happens, I’m just grateful for it.
“But hopefully I did enough. That’s obviously my dream to play in the NBA, but if not, I’m just going with the punches.”
Martinelli has guided the Wildcats to a whopping two of its three NCAA Tournament berths. While the 13-17 Wildcats' odds of making the Big Dance appear more or less dead at this juncture, the program's 5-14 Big Ten record currently has them ranked as the No. 13 seed in the conference's tournament standings.
“I kind of always have known that I was going to be back here the last four years, so it’s definitely a surreal feeling,” Martinelli said of closing out his NU career. “I’m just trying to enjoy it as much as I can, take each day and just living with as much gratitude as possible.”
Northwestern's rickety start to its 2025-26 season likely doomed the club's NCAA Tournament chances, a reality that Martinelli regrets.
“The thing that hurts the most (about the earlier stretches) is we have such a good camaraderie here, and I’ve been a part of winning and I know how fun that is,” Martinelli said. “And not allowing my teammates to experience that — because we’ve (gone) through so many struggles, so many losses — that obviously hurts.”
Martinelli is the nation's sixth-leading scorer, averaging 22.7 points on 50.1 percent field goal shooting, plus 6.1 boards and 1.9 dimes a night.
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An Evanston native, Alex Kirschenbaum is also a proud Northwestern alum. He has written for Bleacher Nation, Newsweek, Sports Illustrated, Hoops Rumors, Trailers From Hell, Men's Journal, and Bulls fan sites Blog-A-Bull and Pippen Ain't Easy, among others. Alex knows Zach Collins has given the Bulls some good years, but he'll never forgive the then-Gonzaga center for that very obvious goaltend against the Wildcats during the second round of the 2017 NCAA Tournament.