Chris Collins Lands First Transfer of Offseason for Northwestern

The Wildcats have brought in one of the nation's leading scorers.

Mar 12, 2026; Chicago, IL, USA; Northwestern Wildcats head coach Chris Collins hugs forward Nick Martinelli (2) as he leaves the game against Purdue Boilermakers during the second half at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images | Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

Northwestern University Wildcats men's basketball head coach Chris Collins has nabbed his first transfer.

A whopping eight players with remaining NCAA eligibility ditched the Wildcats for the transfer portal following a disappointing 15-19 season, forcing Collins to lean on just that mechanism to reconfigure his club for 2026-27.

Now, he has nabbed one of the country's best scorers. Senior former Bellarmine small forward Jack Karasinski has informed Joe Tipton of On3 that he'll be calling Welsh-Ryan Arena home next year.

Across 30 games with the 13-19 Knights in 2025-26, the 6-foot-7 forward averaged 21.7 points on .561/.415/.807 shooting splits, 4.7 rebounds, 1.2 assists, and 0.6 steals a night. Northwestern will be Karasinski's third (and final) school in his collegiate career. He spent his first two seasons with William and Mary. That scoring tally represented the 13th-most prolific average in the nation last year. His 56.1 percent field goal shooting clip was the 47th-best in the country.

Karasinski hails from Grand Rapids, Michigan. The 2026 All-Atlantic Sun Conference honoree was considered a four-star transfer prospect by On3, who also ranked him as the portal's 23rd-best player at his position.

Bellarmine's 4's & 5's are highly skilled. This is their 5-man, #32 Karasinski, lifting for a 3 (18-49, 36.7%)

Kentucky's first two SEC opponents, Alabama & Missouri, are going to have 4's & 5's that can do this.

The 'Cats need to show some urgency in taking away the 3's today. pic.twitter.com/d0ZN7rADrz

— Brandon Ramsey (@BRamseyKSR) December 23, 2025

Charlie Perlman of The Daily Northwestern flags Karasinski's 0.81 assist-to-turnover ratio as being an area of concern at the Big Ten level. With the ball in his hands presumably less often for Northwestern, one wonders if Karasinski will be a more efficient passer with a brighter spotlight on his game now. A good shooter but a poor defender, Karasinski seems like the current leader in the clubhouse to be our Nick Martinelli replacement.

For now, Northwestern boasts just seven players on its roster for next year. Karasinski joins just four players returning from the 2025-26 season — all guards — plus incoming freshmen Symon Ghai, a center, and Jayden Hodge, a forward.

A Turbulent Offseason for Northwestern Thus Far

A whopping eight players have already departed the Wildcats for the NCAA transfer portal.

Freshman forwards Tre Singleton and Tyler Kropp, freshman center Cade Bennerman, sophomore guard K.J. Windham, junior guards Jordan Clayton and Jayden Reid, junior big man Arrinten Page, and senior guard Blake Smith (who has a bonus season year of collegiate eligibility) are all off for greener pastures this spring.

Northwestern will need to figure out how to effectively pivot and replace all these players.

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