Keeping tabs on top 2017 Northwestern targets

By this time last year, Northwestern’s Class of 2016 was complete. Four-star center Barret Benson committed on July 7, giving the Wildcats a three-player class that also included three-star guard Isiah Brown and four-star forward Rapolas Ivanauskas.

This year, however, Northwestern entered the July evaluation period without any commitments. It’s certainly no time to panic, but head coach Chris Collins and his staff will be busy this month checking out the top candidates for the two, and possibly three (depending on the status of Johnnie Vassar), scholarships available.

With that in mind, WildcatReport takes a look at how some of the Wildcats top 2017 targets performed during the first weekend of the evaluation period.

Interest in Jordan Goodwin has blown up this summer, but Northwestern remains a player for the four-star shooting guard and is making a big push. Playing for the St. Louis Eagles AAU club, the 6-foot-5 Goodwin averaged 21.8 points, 11 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 2.6 steals per game.

While watching the Eagles, Northwestern coaches also got a chance to check out Goodwin’s teammate, Tim Finke, a four-star 2018 shooting guard who already has a Wildcat offer.

Northwestern will soon know where it stands with Goodwin. He is expected to announce his Top 8 on Thursday.

Three-star guard Brad Davison recently visited Northwestern and is the guy Wildcat coaches think could replace Bryant McIntosh one day. Davison averaged 12.8 points, 4 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game for Howard Pulley (Minn.) during the Peach Jam. He turned in a monster game against King James (Ohio), with 24 points on 5-of-7 shooting from beyond the arc.

Four-star forward Jordan Nwora continued to impress observers in Atlanta. The 6-foot-7, four-star forward averaged 16 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game for The Rens (N.Y.). He scored a combined 46 points in the Rens' first two contests of the weekend.

Nojel Eastern, another four-star 2017 shooting guard, averaged 10.2 points and 6 rebounds per game for Meanstreets. The standout from hometown Evanston had his best game on July 7, with 16 points against Nike South Beach (Fla.).

Northwestern faces some stiff competition in the battle for Savion Flagg. Playing for the Houston Defenders, the four-star small forward averaged 9.5 points, 7 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game and shot 58.6 percent from the floor.

Northwestern is considered the team to beat for three-star, 6-foot-9 power forward Tomas Murphy. Playing for the New England Playaz, Murphy tallied a total of just 22 points and nine rebounds in three games, playing limited minutes. However, he showed his scoring potential by scoring 14 points in just 10 minutes on 5-for-6 shooting against the Upward Stars.