Pete Nance commits to Northwestern

Mood

Chris Collins just came up huge. After landing Jordan Lathon, a four star point guard in the class of 2018, on Sunday; he just got the best recruit in Northwestern history. Pete Nance is a four star small forward from Ohio. The 2018 class is very important for Northwestern because that will be the first group of freshmen after McIntosh, Lindsey, and Skelly graduate. With two four star recruits already committed, Collins has a chance to make this one of the best classes in the Big Ten, if not the country.

These two commitments are a huge step in the right direction for Northwestern hoops. While they aren't quite on Duke's level yet, Northwestern is becoming an elite college basketball program. They are winning games in March and landing big time recruits. All they need is an NCAA investigation and they'll fit right in with North Carolinas and Dukes of the world.

Please no, I was just kidding; leave us alone, NCAA.

BeavCats Cast #5

- Baseball recap

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B9qmd59K_u44cTN5QW51ZGc4RzQ


(Intro song: "Homecoming" by Kanye West)

'Cat Facts #1: Pat Fitzgerald

**On this new series, I will give a bullet point list of facts, stats, etc. about a former Wildcat player or coach. I don't have a specific time frame yet, so don't count on a routine schedule for these**

For the first edition of 'Cat facts, I decided to focus on a Northwestern legend. Fitzgerald is the face of Northwestern athletics and has brought more success to the football program than anyone could have imagined.

•  Fitzgerald is from Orland Park, which is only about an hour drive from Evanston
• As a linebacker at Northwestern, Fitzgerald was a two-time winner of the Bronko Nagurski Trophy and the Chuck Bedinarik Award, both of which are awarded to the best defensive player in the country.
• Fitzgerald never played a down in the NFL. He was signed as an Undrafted Free Agent by the Dallas Cowboys, but was cut before his rookie season began. 
• Fitzgerald became the head coach in 2006 after Randy Walker passed away. At the time, he was the youngest head coach in Division 1 college football.
• Probably the stat that most effectively shows how much Fitzgerald has meant to Northwestern football is the fact that Northwestern has participated in 13 bowl games and Fitzgerald has been involved in 11 of them (as a player, assistant coach, or head coach).

Northwestern Basketball Player Review: Barret Benson

Over the next few weeks, I will review each player on Northwestern's basketball team and go over what they need to improve  for next season. Up next is freshman center Barret Benson

**This is the last player review. Thank You for all the support on this series!**

Benson played very few minutes, but was able to be fairly
effective on the defensive end.

Season Review: Benson was extremely raw this past season.  An early season injury to Dererk Pardon allowed Benson to gain valuable experience and allow him to get into a rhythm before Big Ten play started. During the Big Ten season, Benson was effective on defense, but committed fouls at an alarming rate. He never really found much of an offensive game, which forced Collins to play him sparingly. Overall, Benson made positive strides in his freshman season, but was not consistent enough to play big minutes.
Off-season: Benson simply needs to make his game more well rounded. If he can continue to make a positive impact on the defensive end, while cutting down on the fouls his minutes should increase substantially. In addition to increasing his defensive efficiency, if Benson can add some post offense, he could be a major part of Northwestern's team next season.