Northwestern Poaches Top Penn Point Guard in Transfer Portal

Our Northwestern University Wildcats men's basketball team has added a rising young playmaker to its ranks!

The Wildcats have managed to poach key cog for their massive roster rebuild ahead of the 2026-27 season. Nine (!) players with lingering NCAA eligibility opted to set off for greener pastures following an underwhelming 15-19 season finish in 2025-26, compounding the already high-impact absence of senior forward Nick Martinelli.

As Martinelli gears up for the 2026 NBA Draft later this month, questions remain on whether or not he'll be among the 60 players whose names are called. With so many players opting to return to college for lucrative NIL deals, odds have improved for the 6-foot-7 Glenbrook South product's chances of making the grade. Even if he doesn't, he seems likely to get a shot on a two-way developmental deal somewhere.

Former University of Pennsylvania point guard Dylan Williams took to his social media to announce that he was jumping ship with a brief message to Evanston fans: "Isaiah 60:22 #Poundtherock."

Isaiah 60:22💜 #Poundtherock pic.twitter.com/ghvW0RhZfw
— Dylan Williams (@Dywill03) May 29, 2026

Following two junior college seasons at Triton College (where he made the NJCAA championship game and was honored as “Best Small Man"), Williams transferred to Penn for the 2024-25 season. In 25 games (11 starts), he averaged 4.4 points on .321/.324/.680 shooting splits, 1.2 assists, 1.2 rebounds and 0.4 steals a night.

Last year, an injury limited Williams to just seven healthy bouts with the Quakers. He averaged 2.1 points while slashing .375/.250/.333, 1.6 assists, and 1.0 boards across 8.7 minutes per.

“I’ve been on a hunt to [play D-I] for two years now," Williams told Conor Smith of The Daily Pennsylvanian in 2024. "So for me, to finally be here, I want to make the most of it. I want to win an Ivy League championship. I want to be able to play in March Madness. I want to be able to win the Philly Big 5. I want to get all the accolades that come with it.”

Bringing aboard Williams from the Quakers represents a major recruiting coup for longtime Wildcats head coach Chris Collins and his team. The 5-foot-11 point guard represents Collins' eighth transfer piece this offseason.

Luke McEldon, Center, Mount St. Mary's
LA Pratt, Point Guard, Northeastern
Colin Smith, Forward, University of California at Santa Barbara
Okku Federiko, Wing, Drake
Aleksej Kostić, Guard, BYU
Ryan Soulis, Forward, Columbia
Jack Karasinski, Wing, Bellarmine

This growing group of transfers will be joined by a trio of freshman recruits — walk-on guard Elijah Eschmeyer, forward Jayden Hodge, and center Symon Ghai.

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