Northwestern Targeting 'Versatile' Transfers, NIL Usage in Rebuild

Following a disappointing season from the Wildcats, head coach Joe McKeown believes in the team's foundation.

Oct 2, 2024; Rosemont, IL, USA; Northwestern head coach Joe McKeown speaks during the 2024 Big Ten Womenís Basketball media day at Donald E. Stephens Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Melissa Tamez-Imagn Images | Melissa Tamez-Imagn Images

From the 2019-20 season until 2021-22, Northwestern was one of the premiere women's basketball programs.

The Wildcats won the Big Ten with a 26-4 record before the postseason was cancelled due to COVID-19 in 2020, then made the NCAA Tournament's Round of 32 the following year. Northwestern narrowly missed the postseason in 2022, despite an All-American season from Veronica Burton.

Over those three years, Northwestern posted a 59-25 record. In the three seasons since, the Wildcats are just 27-60, including 8-46 in Big Ten Play.

After falling to Nebraska in the season finale on Sunday, Northwestern head coach Joe McKeown spoke to the media about the team's next steps toward returning to prominence, emphasizing the university's support and the coaching staff's committment to recruiting.

"We're excited about our future," McKeown said. "We've got some great young players in the program, signed one of the best players in New York. The foundation is back to where we need to be one of those seven, eight, nine best teams in the league. That's our goal starting tomorrow... We've got to get back to that level, and we will."

With the Wildcats also losing three seniors and two graduate students, McKeown brought up the need to embrace NIL and the transfer portal in order to get "an influx of talent." Under McKeown, Northwestern has traditionally been a program built through player development and high school recruitment, but NU has had to adapt to the changing college sports landscape.

It took until 2023 for McKeown to sign his first transfer to the team. This past season, the Wildcats added three, and McKeown now has a plan to fortify his roster using the upcoming transfer portal window.

"We saved scholarships that we didn't use in the fall, so we're going to go into this spring with the opportunity to recruit three or four new players," McKeown said. "In our league, people just buy players, and you've got to play against them. I still want student athletes that are going to bleed Northwestern."

McKeown continued to nail home the idea of looking for "student athletes" first and foremost, but acknowledged that the program had to be more involved in the NIL space. In particular, McKeown wants transfers whose versatility can be used in a variety of ways, as well as an upgrade to the team's three-point shooting.

"I think our best teams have been positionless when you have players that can play multiple [roles]," McKeown said. "That's what was great about Lindsey Pulliam, that's what was great about Sydney Wood. Those guys could play everywhere and we love players that are that versatile."

After three years in the Big Ten's basement, it seems like McKeown and Northwestern are prepared to attack the transfer market to retool the roster. Their approach echoes a change across all Northwestern sports, where the administration has had to reevaluate everything in order to keep up with the college sports arms race.