March 04--As much as this Northwestern basketball season has been about building for the future, there will be no forgetting the seniors when the Wildcats host Michigan Tuesday night at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
JerShon Cobb, David Sobolewski and Jeremiah Kreisberg will be honored on Senior Night before the Wildcats take the court. Kreisberg transferred from Yale for his final season of eligibilty as a graduate student.
"The veteran players have been great this year and (the year before)," second-year NU coach Chris Collins said. "And the seniors this year have taken over that same role. Dave Sobolewski and JerShon Cobb, in particular those two guys. Early in their careers they were part of teams that went to the NIT and had success. To go through a transition and have a coaching change...that's never easy.
"The way they have welcomed me and my staff and tried to help us as we brought in a lot of young players...kind of transitioned with our playing style...their leadership has been key.
Especially for Dave, he was a guy his first couple of years played a lot of minutes. Then he has taken on a different role (as a reserve point guard) and he has been great. He has kind of been like a player/coach on this year's team, because we have five true freshmen and two sophomores out there. (Sobolewski) is such a high-energy guy. It's like having another coach when it comes to practice, when it comes to work habits and just carrying out the culture that we are trying to create."
Cobb, a 6-5 guard, has been plagued with knee and foot injuries all season, and throughout his college career. He has played in just 18 of the 29 games this season. He is averaging 5.8 points a game after scoring at a 12.2 points per game clip last season.
"I feel bad for JerShon Cobb because his body hasn't been able to hold up to the way he would have liked," Collins said. "It has been a huge loss for us this year, not having JerShon out there. He has been a really good player in this league. Certainly it has hurt our team this year not having him at full strength."
With just two regular-season games remaining, the Wildcats (14-15, 5-11 Big Ten), still cling to hopes of finishing strong for a possible NIT bid. The Wildcats travel to Iowa on Saturday. Michigan edged Northwestern 56-54 on Jan. 17 in Ann Arbor.
Northwestern trying to avenge close loss at Michigan
