Northwestern men’s basketball 2024-25 player previews: Depth guards

You can never have enough guards off the bench.

A year removed from a deep rotation of guards led by ‘Cats legend Boo Buie, the ‘Cats reloaded this offseason with a slew of transfers and returnees alike. Of course, the guard rotation will be headlined by guys like Ty Berry and Brooks Barnhizer, but how much depth do the ‘Cats really have in the backcourt?

Jordan Clayton

The highest ranked player in Northwestern’s 2023 recruiting class, Clayton was bound to crack the rotation at some point last season. He seemed to earn the trust of coach Chris Collins early on, receiving double-digit minutes in three of the team’s first four games to open their 2023-24 campaign. But the former three-star quickly lost his minutes in large part due to being an offensive liability. There were many offensive possessions last season where Clayton looked uncomfortable to have the ball in his hands, letting opposing defenses sag off or double on another player.

The obvious next step for the Medford, Massachusetts native is to carve out a definable offensive role. The Wildcats still have plenty of guys who can get you a bucket when needed, but if Clayton is able to be productive on offense — whether it be as a shooter, slasher or playmaker — it could make a huge difference in his minutes, and the Wildcats’ success this year.

Justin Mullins

Many had high hopes for Mullins following his commitment to Northwestern in spring of 2023. An Oak Park native, Mullins came back home after an impressive freshman season at Denver where he averaged nearly 10 points and three rebounds per game on 52% shooting. With a 6-foot-6 frame, there was a lot of hope for the transfer to provide some much-needed size on the wing. However, Mullins unfortunately made little impact, appearing in just 11 regular season games and playing more than 10 minutes just three times the entire year.

Simply getting on the floor needs to be the priority for the Illinois native this coming season. Now a junior, Mullins will be one of the more experienced players on this Wildcats roster, and thus needs to step up accordingly. Given his solid size and athleticism, Mullins could be a massive defensive piece in a conference that has tons of size. Especially if he can improve his shooting from deep, Mullins projects as the perfect three-and-D asset in Collins’ rotation.

Blake Smith

After an entire freshman season warming the bench, it looked like more of the same for Smith for a majority of his second year. Into mid-February, Smith had yet to make an appearance for the Wildcats, but after the ‘Cats were ravaged by the injury bug, the Pennsylvania-born guard found his way into the rotation, finally making some noise in a two-game stretch against Maryland and Iowa where he averaged 28 minutes, 8.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game.

Although it was a very small sample size, Blake Smith looked like he could be in the starting lineup at times. His high motor, all-out work ethic and willingness to dive for loose balls is exactly what Collins loves defensively. Even if No. 43 doesn’t live up to the hype he created in that end-of-season stretch, he could not only play a serious part of the rotation, but with a little polish potentially be one of Collins’ go-to guys on the defensive end.