Northwestern Star Nick Martinelli Building His Own NBA Path
When the Oklahoma City Thunder selected shooting guard/small forward Brooks Barnhizer with the 44th overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, it marked the first time a Northwestern Wildcats player had been drafted in more than a quarter-century. And now, with that 26-year NBA Draft drought over, the NU program might see players drafted in back-to-back years.
Northwestern forward Nick Martinelli currently leads the Big Ten and ranks fourth nationally in scoring, averaging 23.4 points per game. He led the Big Ten in scoring last season, meaning he’s potentially on his way to achieving a very rare feat: a back-to-back Big Ten scoring champion.
Martinelli is also a Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year and Wooden Award (best overall player) candidate, as he’s playing dominant ball in Evanston, Illinois, just 10 miles away from where he grew up: Glenview, Illinois.
If all goes well, he could follow his former teammate, Barnhizer, to the NBA in June.
An NBA Talent
Currently, the 6-7 (as the kids like to say “six-seven!”) senior is projected to go around the same range as Barnhizer, in the mid-to-late second round. Barnhizer has been able to carve out a niche for himself with the Thunder, finding playing time with the current defending NBA champions.
“Brooks got numbers, but in the NBA, you have some star players, but 90% of the guys in the NBA are role players,” Northwestern head coach Chris Collins said to Ratings.org.
“They’re looking for guys that are going to play defense, be dependable, show up every day. Know how to play and Nick’s that guy. He’s got good size, got good strength.
“He’s really improving as a shooter. He’s going to have a great chance to be in it, just like I knew Brooks would.”
After breaking the Northwestern single-season scoring record last season, Martinelli entered the NBA Draft exploratory process, and he utilized that feedback to make himself a better player this season.
“I thought it was important for him to go on some workouts to see what it’s like to prepare himself for next year,” Collins continued.
“But also get the feedback from the NBA people about some of the things for him to be an NBA player, eventually- what he needs to be able to do, which is great, because he’s such a worker.
“I probably told him all those things, but when you hear that from NBA GMs, NBA head coaches, it rings a little bit clearer.”
Martinelli, a pure scorer with a deadly mid-range game and a dangerous floater, discussed what his best selling point is, fundamentally, as an individual player.
“I definitely think being here four years, just understanding where to be on the court is such an advantage for me,” he said.
“People don’t understand, with the transfer portal and being a freshman, it’s hard to be in the right spot all the time. And I think I’ve got an opportunity to understand where to be on most of the plays, and I think that’s been such a strength of mine is just knowing the offense and having that experience.”
Martinelli is absolutely right. The ability to understand the Xs and Os, and maximize your positioning within the offensive scheme is indeed huge. It’s a tremendous asset to have, for the NBA Draft process, just like it is for college football players who enter the NFL Draft process.
Conversely, Martinelli’s coach discussed what his star man needs to do in order to level up.
“I think the biggest thing for him is the leadership,” Collins said.
“Nick is a frontline soldier; he’ll run through the wall first. You guys know that he’ll throw his body around. He’ll do whatever is necessary, but he wasn’t a very vocal leader (last season). He was just a great player and a great fighter for us.
“Now he has to be that vocal leader.”
Embracing Leadership
Martinelli, who converts 59.1% of his field goal attempts and averages 6.4 rebounds per game, heard the message from his coach. He discussed the ways in which he strives to be more of a vocal leader.
“It’s definitely hard, because in the past, I’ve been more of a role model by my actions,” he said.
“With these new guys, these young guys, we haven’t really had much of a voice. And, I just need to be more of a voice to get these guys riled up in very important, pivotal moments that they may not notice.
“But I played in a ton of games, I have pretty good awareness of time and score and making sure guys know what they need to be doing, and how important getting a stop maybe is (in a given situation), I think that’s huge for my growth as a leader.”
Northwestern is still seeking its first conference win of the season, having dropped its first five Big Ten games. Martinelli has certainly done his part, however, as he set a new career high, with 34 points scored, in Sunday’s overtime loss at Rutgers.
Martinelli and company realize that the clock is ticking on getting their season turned around.
“I think that’s one thing that we’re going to emphasize here, is playing like our lives depend on it, because they really do,” Martinelli said before departing on this latest road trip.
“We have to win (now), we understand that, and hopefully play with more urgency.”
No matter how the rest of Northwestern’s season plays out, a bright future lies ahead for Martinelli, and Collins certainly recognizes that.
“I’m excited to get to coach him, another 17 to 20 games, and then I know I’m going to be a big fan,” Wildcats coach said.
“Because I know he’s got good things ahead of him after this.”