REPORT: Northwestern Basketball Transfer Target to Visit Evanston
With several experienced seniors and fifth-years out the door in Evanston, the Wildcats must turn to the transfer portal to replenish their roster.
Northwestern has been unofficially linked to several prospects already since the portal opened on Monday, and the 'Cats are now bringing in a potential transfer recruit to fill out their frontcourt. Wildcat Report's Louie Vaccher broke the news on Wednesday afternoon that sophomore forward Cooper Schwieger has scheduled a visit with Chris Collins and the Wildcats.
Schwieger has spent the last two years at Valparaiso, less than 70 miles from Northwestern's Evanston campus. The Overland Park, Kansas native has started 65 games for the Beacons and was named to the All-Missouri Valley Conference Second Team this past season.
The sophomore is listed as 6-foot-10 and 230 pounds. According to 247 Sports, Schwieger is ranked the No. 35 overall player in the transfer portal and No. 10 power forward. He was a zero-star recruit in high school.
In the 2024-25 season, Schwieger led Valparaiso with 15.8 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game. He also shot a team-leading 48.9% from the field, was just under 30% from three and made 85% of his attempts from the line.
Per On3's Joe Tipton, Schwieger had initially heard from 18 teams after entering the transfer portal, but the forward's list is now reportedly down to just four teams: Clemson, Wake Forest, Michigan and Northwestern.
As the roster currently stands, Northwestern has two open spots available for transfers. Collins will be losing senior Brooks Barnhizer and graduate students Ty Berry, Matthew Nicholson, Jalen Leach and Keenan Fitzmorris, with redshirt freshman Blake Barkley transferring as well.
The 'Cats are set to welcome a five-man freshman recruiting class that ranks No. 21 in the country, so Northwestern has very limited transfer options if it wants experience that can help the team win now.
The combination of Schwieger and All-Big Ten forward Nick Martinelli could be difficult for opponents to deal with. However, Schwieger's transfer could force Collins to decide between a bruising center to replace Nicholson or a ball-dominant guard to take the lead while freshman K.J. Windham develops. Without any more outgoing Wildcat transfers, Northwestern would likely be unable to obtain both.
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Gavin Dorsey is the Lead Writer for Northwestern Wildcats On SI and covers a handful of other teams in the On SI network. Before joining On SI in February 2025, he wrote for the Star Tribune and Inside NU while broadcasting college sports for both radio and television. Dorsey is a graduate of Northwestern's Medill School of Journalism, where he also studied psychology. In his free time, he enjoys running and being outdoors. Dorsey is currently a freelance writer for the Associated Press, covering Chicago area sports teams.