Nick Martinelli has finished his Northwestern basketball journey.
The hug Martinelli shared with coach Chris Collins after checking out embodies that fact, along with the moments he shared with each player and assistant coach as he went down and was hugged by everyone on the bench at the time. His embrace with Collins was an emotional one that spoke to what it meant to both of them with building a relationship over an entire college basketball career.
Advertisement
Not only that, but Martinelli checking out was met with a huge standing ovation from both Northwestern and Purdue fans. The fans were honoring the four-year Northwestern career of one of the all-time great Wildcats.
“To see the standing ovation he got and all those things, it’s pretty cool,” Collins said. “I’ll be his biggest fan forever.”
In the modern era of collegiate sports, having a player stay in one place for four or more years is an anomaly. The transfer portal is being used more than ever, and the money incentives act as the driver. What makes Martinelli so special is that he stayed at Northwestern for all four years of his career, going from a not highly-touted recruit averaging just 2.6 points-per-game as a freshman to leading the Big Ten in scoring in both his junior and senior seasons. He was loyal.
“I’ve played against him since high school in AAU,” Purdue’s Fletcher Loyer said. “He wasn’t really highly ranked, so to see him develop and become the player he has, it’s a lot of respect to him and the work he’s put in.”
Advertisement
Martinelli’s four-year Northwestern career coming to an end at the hands of the Purdue Boilermakers speaks even further volumes. Three of Purdue’s key players in Trey Kaufman-Renn, Loyer and Braden Smith have spent all four or more years with the team they started with. Smith in particular was an under-recruited prospect who was choosing between Montana, Appalachian State and Toledo before committing to Purdue the day he received his offer. Collins event went as far to say that Smith is a good example for Jake West in how he stayed with his program and fought through the highs and lows.
“To look out on the floor and to see four guys—[Trey] Kaufman-Renn, Fletcher Loyer, Braden Smith and Nick Martinelli—four guys that have stayed with their programs for four years, that was pretty cool,” Collins said. “I root for that because I really admire players that stick through.”
While top-end recruits often take the one-and-done path to the NBA, many players who do stay in college transfer if they either aren’t getting much playing time at a top basketball school or are a top player on a mid-major or lower-end power conference team.
Martinelli is a symbol of loyalty. There’s an alternate reality where he never blossoms into the player he is now, as he mentioned that during his freshman year, he “probably wasn’t even going to play if it weren’t for injuries.” Northwestern’s current roster consists of four players, including Martinelli, that are all graduating. While it’s almost inevitable that some players will transfer, the other 11 Wildcats are at the oldest, juniors in college. For Martinelli to be the leader that he is for this group of players has a real chance to play dividends when it comes to them choosing whether or not to stay.
Advertisement
Take K.J. Windham for example. The sophomore guard was arguably Northwestern’s second-best player in the 2025 Big Ten Tournament behind Martinelli and the hype around him headed into the 2025-26 season was grand. After logging 18 minutes against Butler on Dec. 20, 2025, Windham appeared in just three more games, totaling 11 minutes total. While the question of whether or not he will leave this offseason looms heavily (though he did say Thursday that he plans on saying at NU for now), Martinelli is the perfect example of a player that works hard to be better every day, but more importantly, the perfect example of a player who stays loyal.
“This is my home, and I’ve got so much love reciprocated because I’ve stayed,” Martinelli said. “It’s just been such a blessing and an honor.”
