Brooks Barnhizer talks Senior Night 1-on-1 with Cassie Carlson
One of the best players in Northwestern basketball history is now headed to the NBA.
Wildcats' guard Brooks Barnhizer was selected with the No. 44 overall pick of the 2025 NBA Draft by Oklahoma City.
Now, one of the best players in ‘Cats’ history is heading to the reigning NBA champions.
What we know:
Barnhizer was a prolific player in Northwestern purple.
He scored 1,067 points, was the heart of the 'Cats teams that made the NCAA Tournament and is a versatile player.
Draft analysts see Barnhizer as a two-way player that can rely on his defensive instincts to carve a role at the NBA level. Going to the reigning NBA champion Thunder is a perfect spot for this.
The Thunder won a title on the basis of player development. The organization developed Shai Gilgeous-Alexander into the NBA MVP, Jalen Williams into a star and Chet Holmgren into a defensive centerpiece.
Barnhizer might not develop into a NBA MVP, but he has shown the skills during his NU career to be a role player at the next level.
The backstory:
There will always be a little heartache when looking at Brooks Barnhizer's Northwestern career.
The Lafayette, Indiana, native led the Wildcats to the best two-year stretch in school history, making consecutive NCAA Tournaments with the potential for a third.
Then, disaster struck. A broken foot ended Barnhizer's final season prematurely in February.
"There’ll always be a little bit of what if," Northwestern head coach Chris Collins said near the end of last season.
Still, Barnhizer's legacy at Northwestern is evident in the banners they raised and the games they won. He helped usher an era of basketball at Northwestern that proved the 'Cats can be a competitive program in the Big Ten.
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