In honor of Chase Audige winning the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Award today, we re-post this previously published piece. Audige became just the second Wildcat to ever claim the award, with Pat Baldwin, in 1994, being the other. Audige, one of five finalists for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year award, had 74 steals this season, which led the Big Ten and ranked eighth nationally.
That number is the second highest single-season total in Northwestern history, matching Baldwin’s 1993 tally and behind only Baldwin’s 1991 total of 90.
Here is the original article, from February 24:
While Boo Buie is the undisputed alpha dog of Northwestern basketball, and he showed that last night, Chase Audige is the Robin to his Batman. The two guards are a big reason why Northwestern is in the mix for a top four finish in the Big Ten, and with it, a double bye in the Big Ten Tournament.
Buie and Audige comprise a backcourt that is so stellar, it may be the best guard pairing in the league. Chase Audige brings an energy on the court and a stellar ability to defend that has helped bring this team back to the NCAA Tournament.
Audige had four steals last night, in the loss at Illinois that moved him into sole possession of third place on the program’s single-season record board in the category. The redshirt senior from Coram, N.Y. now ranks sixth all-time in program history in steals.
Audige can fill it up on the offensive end, but the defensive side of the floor is where he is really shining this season. He’s one of 15 players named to the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Watch List on Jan. 26 as one of the most outstanding defensive players in the nation.
And if it’s not Buie who is taking the final shot, to close games out, thenย Chase Audige can. He has the potential, if needs be, to become this team’s closer.
“We all work on that growing up- buzzer beating shots, yelling ‘Kobe!’ on every shot,” he said in an exclusive interview we conducted with him previously.
“It’s a blessing to be trusted by the coach to take those kinds of shots, to be in those moments, but if it’s any moment in the game I’m comfortable making a play or taking a shot.”
Audige also discussed the players he looked up to and modeled his game on when he was a child.
“Especially growing up, I think guys like Kobe Bryant was a huge one for me, (players in the NBA) now, guys like Bradley Beal, Devin Booker- playmaking, scoring guards who can post up, do it all, play pick ‘n’ rolls any guard like that, I just try to take from.”
While we lost Kobe, in a helicopter crash, just weeks before the covid-19 pandemic changed the world forever. However, his memory lives on forever in all of us who love basketball.
While Chase Audige and Boo Buie form a dynamic duo, Ty Berry helps to round out the big three for NU. Brooks Barnhizer presents himself as a great fourth piece, and when you have a big three plus 1, well, you have a very solid team.
Northwestern, never nationally ranked this late in a season until now, are on their way to potentially breaking the school record for single season wins.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager ofย The Sports Bank.ย Heโs also theย author of โTransatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,โ andย โNo, I Canโt Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.โ
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