Big Ten men’s basketball coaches and players gathered Thursday at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont to speak with reporters during the conference’s annual media days.
Here are four things we heard from local teams and conference powers as the season approaches.
1. Northwestern’s Nick Martinelli called his NBA draft exploration ‘humbling.’
Martinelli returns for his senior season as a preseason All-Big Ten selection. After leading the conference in scoring last season with 20.5 points per game and averaging 6.2 rebounds, he declared for the draft while maintaining his eligibility. He announced his return to the Wildcats in late May.
Martinelli, who has excelled in Evanston with his midrange game, said NBA representatives looked at his 3-point shooting and defense as areas he needs to address. He said that while the pre-draft experience fulfilled a dream, it was “super humbling.”
“Coming off a pretty good season, I thought that I would get a real look,” Martinelli said Thursday, “and definitely I got the sense that I was kind of just there to be a sparring partner with those really high-level guys that teams were looking at. That’s definitely a humbling experience, a motivating experience for me.
“Obviously in your own head, you consider yourself as good as anybody else in the country, and going in there and seeing that you’re kind of just there to spar against guys that they’re actually taking seriously is definitely a humbling experience. But it was a great experience nonetheless.”
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Northwestern coach Chris Collins said he thought the draft exploration was good for Martinelli to understand what he will go through next year and also to hear from NBA coaches.
Collins called the 6-foot-7 forward from Glenbrook South “a worker” who will set out to address those issues as well as things the Wildcats need from him this season — specifically vocal leadership.
“I probably told him all those things, but when you hear that from NBA GMs, NBA head coaches, it rings a little bit clearer,” Collins said. “But I know Nick is two feet in with what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to win.”
Martinelli said he will use the experience as fuel for this season, but he is more driven to get better because of his teammates.
“Sports is all about humbling experiences,” he said. “If you don’t get embarrassed a little bit, you’ll never really grow at anything. I’m obviously motivated just a bit by that.
“But I’m more motivated by a guy like (Justin Mullins) that came in after transferring and has just worked his butt off and taken coaching and listened about how to get better at certain things. To see this guy’s jump and to see my teammates’ (improvement), that’s really more motivating, the guys that are in the room with you every single day.”
2. Illinois coach Brad Underwood is waiting to see the full picture of his team, but he loves its potential.
Ben Humrichous wasn’t planning to be at Big Ten media day until Tuesday morning, when he got the call that he was needed in a pinch. Luckily, his mom had just delivered his suit.
“God’s blessing that I have a suit for today,” Humrichous said.
Humrichous joined the interviews in place of junior center Tomislav Ivišić, who had his tonsils removed Wednesday. Underwood said Ivišić will be out for a little bit, based on how his body recovers.
It’s the latest moving part for the Illini, who were ranked fourth in the preseason Big Ten media poll but haven’t been at full strength yet this preseason.
Top transfer Andrej Stojaković, a guard who played last season at California, has been dealing with a knee injury. Underwood said Stojaković has a doctor appointment Friday, and the Illini will know more then about whether he’ll be ready for the start of the season. He has been doing conditioning in the pool, spending a lot of time in the film room and shooting jump shots.
Incoming point guard Mihailo Petrović, who is from Serbia, arrived in August but hasn’t been cleared by the NCAA. He has been practicing with the team, and Underwood is hopeful he will be cleared before the season.
Given that the Illini are adding several newcomers to a team that includes returning starters Ivišić, Humrichous and Kylan Boswell, Underwood is a little uncertain how they will operate together, though he said the goal is always a national championship.
“I love this team,” he said. “I like our size. I like our versatility. My questions arise, I haven’t seen Andrej Stojaković with Mihailo and the two bigs together. There’s a lot of things I haven’t seen yet.
“I love what we have the ability to be, especially offensively. We’re more talented offensively than we were a year ago. Defensively we have to continue to grow. That’s always the hardest thing to develop.”
3. A familiar Purdue team is getting all of the preseason hype.
The Boilermakers, who return four starters from a Sweet 16 team, were voted the Big Ten’s best team in the preseason media poll. Senior guard Braden Smith was named preseason player of the year, and senior forward Trey Kaufman-Renn was a preseason All-Big Ten selection.
That duo said they’re motivated by knowing it’s their last go-around together.
“Understanding we all came back from a reason,” Smith said. “We understand the team we have and the players and coaching staff we have and what we’re capable of accomplishing.”
In the transfer portal era, Smith and Kaufman-Renn said they believe the Boilermakers’ ability to retain players is about the culture under coach Matt Painter, who also made a couple of highly regarded additions.
“It shows everybody that’s against NIL and against the transfer portal that you can still do it if you have a good enough culture and have a good enough team,” said Kaufman-Renn, who was third in the Big Ten with 20.1 points per game. “I have very strong opinions on NIL and the transfer portal. I think it showcases some weaknesses in some programs and some coaches that maybe lie to their players or don’t have a great culture. It forces you to create an environment that people want to show up every single day or else can go somewhere else.”
Smith, who averaged 15.8 points and 8.7 assists last season, could have looked into other options after last season. He said he talked briefly with his agent about potentially exploring the NBA draft.
“But (the feedback) was so all over the place, so I was like, ‘Nah, I’m good. I’ll come back,’” Smith said.
4. Morez Johnson Jr. has impressed his new teammates on the offensive and defensive glass.
Johnson, who was named Mr. Basketball of Illinois at Thornton in 2024, made headlines this spring when he transferred from Illinois to Michigan.
He’s one piece of a Wolverines transfer class that ESPN ranked in June as No. 3 in the country. Yaxel Lendeborg (UAB), Elliot Cadeau (North Carolina) and Aday Mara (UCLA) also joined Michigan, which was picked second in the preseason media poll.
Johnson, a 6-9 forward who averaged seven points and 6.9 rebounds for the Illini, has impressed his new teammates with his rebounding ability and athleticism.
“His athleticism is off the charts, and his impact is just paramount when you think about his physicality, his impact on the glass and also as a lob threat,” said guard Nimari Burnett, who played at Morgan Park. “You see him grab that rebound and take it to the other end, and nobody stops him. He’s going to dunk it on your head. I’ve always wanted a teammate like Morez and he brings that plus one.”
Guard Roddy Gayle Jr. said he likes Johnson’s impact as a lob threat.
“Something I’ve been really excited that I didn’t see is his ability to score out of the post, his athleticism, especially in the pick-and-roll,” Gayle said. “Having a lob threat in the pick-and-roll allows us guards to have so much more freedom when it comes to making decisions. You can throw it anywhere and he’ll go grab it.”