Big Ten News: Northwestern Star, Lafayette Native Brooks Barnhizer Out for Season
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Northwestern coach Chris Collins revealed some unfortunate news on Saturday. Wildcats senior Brooks Barnhizer has played his final game with the team, suffering a foot injury that will keep him sidelined for the remainder of the 2024-25 season.
Barnhizer has been a do-it-all guard for the Wildcats throughout his career and was having a strong senior season. The Lafayette, Ind. native was averaging 17.1 points, 8.8 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game. He was also having a nice defensive season, averaging 2.3 steals per contest.
Barnhizer did not play in Northwestern's game against No. 17 Wisconsin on Saturday, a game the Wildcats lost 75-69. After the contest, Collins was in tears while talking about the senior's situation.
"The decision was made to shut it down, and so he's not going to be with us the rest of the year," Collins said. "He left it all out there — I'm sorry, I'm getting emotional. I love that kid. Not seeing him be able to get out there today just sucks."
Chris Collins gets emotional announcing that Brooks Barnhizer is out for the season and his Northwestern career is over pic.twitter.com/j2c4Nb0cpK
— The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) February 1, 2025
The Wildcats have nine games remaining this season. They are currently 12-10 with a 3-8 mark in Big Ten play.
Barnhizer will end his career at Northwestern with 1,067 points, 581 rebounds and 209 assists. He was also a member of two teams that reached the NCAA Tournament.
Barnhizer grew up close to Purdue's campus and attended Lafayette Jeff High School. The Indiana native received eight offers as a high school prospect, according to 247Sports. He picked Northwestern over Ball State, Butler, Detroit Mercy, Evansville, Western Kentucky, Western Michigan and Xavier.
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Dustin Schutte is the publisher of Purdue Boilermakers on SI and has spent more than a decade working in sports journalism. His career began in 2013, when he covered Big Ten football. He remained in that role for eight years before working at On SI to cover the Boilermakers. Dustin graduated from Manchester University in Indiana in 2010, where he played for the men's tennis team.
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