With four recruits already, the coaching staff has been active early in the cycle. How bright is the future of Northwestern’s program?
As it stands today, Northwestern has the 10th best recruiting class in the nation for the Class of 2025.
Let that sink in.
Now, that number likely won’t stand as bigger names tend to commit later in the cycle (10 of the 19 five stars in the class have not committed, according to ESPN). One only needs to look at the lack of powerhouses atop the list (Notre Dame, Mississippi State, Georgia and Butler are all ahead of Northwestern) to know that Northwestern isn’t destined to finish in the top 10 of recruiting classes this cycle.
But don’t let perfection be the enemy of the good. The class of 2025 will be, without a doubt, the best recruiting class in Northwestern basketball history to date. The ‘Cats landed the country’s No. 84 prospect in four star Tre Singleton a few weeks ago. Jake West, the most recent commit, ranks inside the top 150 in the class. The other two commits, Phoenix Gill and Tyler Kropp, don’t have a fancy number next to their name but both garner three stars nonetheless.
I wrote about Tre Singleton’s commitment here, focusing on both his skillset and what he means to the program from a broader scope. This article will dive into the other three newcomers and take a look ahead to see what’s on the horizon.
Jake West (6-foot-2 guard — Penn Charter HS)
West loves to score. The Philadelphia guard can put the ball in the cup in a number of ways, as evidenced by his performance this summer. During the DMV Live period in late June, Penn Charter was scheduled against a gauntlet of teams from the Mid-Atlantic, West faced off against a trio of schools who should populate the top 25 of the high school rankings all year long (DeMatha, Paul VI and Bullis) and a Highland High School team whose defense is anchored by top five recruit Nate Ament. Across four games, he averaged 19.8 PPG on 50% shooting and 41% from deep. His EYBL results impressed the Wildcats coaching staff enough to be the first power conference school to extend an offer on Sept. 17.
Based purely on size and frame, West appears on first look to be a shooter only. But a deeper dive reveals that West excels at getting to the rim and finishing. The smaller guard packs elite speed and some unexpected shiftiness on drives in the pick and roll. If he gets a step, the defender has no chance of catching up. The handle is loose but confident, and the Philly native has a plan of attack with the ball in his hands, meaning he doesn’t get stuck in tough spots very often. His speed translates to a quick first step and creativity off the dribble.
That’s not to say West isn’t a shooter. The footwork is extremely sharp while on the move and he’s able to quickly stop momentum on the catch and get into his upward motion. Off the bounce, West creates space with step backs and side steps without misplacing his feet, leading to a good base to efficiently elevate over contests. West likes to release the ball from just above his right eye and he shoots line drives with tons of accuracy. He’s not a jump shooter, so the ball comes out of his hand right as he jumps, as opposed to at the apex of his leap. However, his lightning fast release compensates for not getting a ton of elevation.
There’s clear avenues for improvement for West in his senior year and once he gets to Northwestern. First and foremost, he has to put on muscle. The rising senior is listed at 165 pounds, which frankly isn’t a playing weight in the ever physical Big Ten. West needs to add 10 to 15 pounds to be able to compete on a Big Ten floor. Secondly, getting comfortable as a true point guard is a necessary next step. While he did average four assists a game during the DMV Live period this past summer, West needs to improve his passing on the move and comfortability distributing out of the pick-and-roll.
Tyler Kropp (6-foot-7 power forward — Olentangy Liberty HS)
The first thing that stands out on tape with Kropp is his basketball IQ. He makes the simple but correct play in every situation, has fantastic timing on his cuts and seals the post well. His positioning on rebounds is phenomenal and his passes are on time.
The Ohio native spent the summer playing for the Argentina U17 team in the FIBA World Cup in Turkey, where he was the tournament’s third leading scorer at an even 20 points per game, grabbing the eighth most rebounds across his seven games. Kropp primarily operates in the post, where he showcases sharp footwork and exquisite ball fakes. He has strength but generally doesn’t overpower his defenders while backing them down, but he uses body control, footwork and pump fakes to create lanes to the rim. Kropp never hurries himself and plays in rhythm at all times. His off ball cuts into the middle of the lane constantly catch defenders sleeping, and, when they recover, he tends to force the poor defender out of position again with a nudge and a pump fake.
There’s a bit of a jumper here, as Kropp fired 16 attempts and drilled five of them, good for 31% over the course of the tournament. The release is clean but his lower body alignment drifts if he doesn’t stay disciplined. That will be something for the Northwestern coaches to fix to add another element to Kropp’s skillset.
Defensively, there are a few shortcomings. He didn’t showcase much explosiveness getting off the ground in Turkey, so shot blocking, especially at just 6-foot-7, may be a rare occurrence. His foot speed is lacking at times, so he’ll need to be cognizant of staying positionally aware and playing advantageous angles.
Phoenix Gill (6-foot-2 shooting guard — St. Ignatius HS)
Gill, interestingly, is the lowest ranked of the four Northwestern recruits, but had a more impressive collection of offers than either West or Kropp. Illinois, Iowa State, Stanford, Toledo and Valparaiso all offered Gill, who ultimately took the Wildcats’ scholarship. The undersized shooting guard is the son of Kendall Gill, a Fighting Illini basketball legend who went on to play 966 NBA games averaging over 13 points a night for his career. In fact, Illinois was the first school to offer Gill but Northwestern, the alma mater of Phoenix’s mother Wendy, was a quick second and won over Gill with its continued pursuit of him.
If there is one word to describe Gill, it would be explosive. He is lightning off the block, so to speak, as he scores a lot of points at the rim by simply blowing by his defender on the first step. Gill is the most dynamic shot creator of this crop of freshmen. At the high school level, he can get his own shot whenever he wants. With the ball in his hand, he tends to drive to the rim or pull up for a jumper. On the latter, he elevates quickly and releases his pull up jumper with a high release point at the peak of his jump. Because of that, his midrange plays much taller than 6-foot-2 and is very difficult to contest, especially if Gill has a bit of space.
If everything about Jake West is channeled forward, Gill channels his game upwards. While West wins with speed and a quick, direct, line drive release, Gill finishes powerfully at the rim with great jumps to negate shot blockers, shoots his pull up jumper at the apex, and cashes from long distance with almost Buiean arc. His high-arcing trey balls are money off the catch, showcasing his ability to play off the ball. He flashes from time to time with strong cuts and quick finishes, and has a sneakily nasty baseline spin move with his back to the basket, an unusual skill for a small shooting guard.
The biggest question mark for Gill at the college level will be size. Northwestern is used to playing with small backcourts in recent years (Buie, Berry and Langborg started last year at 6-foot, 6-foot-3 and 6-foot-4), so Collins should be able to scheme defensively for a potential size deficiency. With that being said, the backcourt of the future, ignoring the ever present transfer portal, is Gill, West, returner Jordan Clayton checking in at just 6-foot-2 and first-year KJ Windham listed at 6-foot-3. Gill profiles as an off ball guard, which means he’ll be tasked with defending wings. The Big Ten tends to run tall as a conference, so Gill is going to have to pack on muscle and be ready to defend above his size.