While Northwestern’s historic season may be over, Coach Collins and his staff are far from done working. New Hampton native Anthony Gaines remains Northwestern’s lone commit for the 2017 recruiting class, meaning the Wildcats have two open scholarships remaining. Success on the recruiting trails is the first step Northwestern needs to take to start making deep runs into March.
Gatorade Illinois boys basketball player of the year Mark Smith remains the primary target. After missing out on Illinois blue-chips Jordan Goodwin, Nojel Eastern, and Justin Smith, Mark Smith is Collins’ last shot at landing an elite in-state recruit for the 2017 class.