Last season, after Northwestern reached the second round of the NCAA men’s tournament in its second-ever appearance, the school’s name, image, and likeness collective knew other programs would be interested in star point guard Boo Buie.

Luckily for the collective’s executive director, Jacob Schmidt, and the rest of the Northwestern fanbase, Buie stayed for his COVID-19 year of eligibility rather than turning pro or hitting the transfer portal. He had plenty of reasons to stay in Evanston (his brother is an assistant coach for the Wildcats), but a handsome check from TrueNU was a part of that decision.

Now that Buie led the school to its first back-to-back tournament appearances, the collective can’t help but feel a tad responsible. Buie is its success story.