NU lost its three leading scorers from a year ago, had 11 freshmen and sophomores and didn't have a clear distinction between players. But it did have talent, which was assumed to be a big enough asset for it to slip into the NCAA Tournament. With his 15 out of 19 NCAA Tournament appearances, it's hard to doubt Sanderford. But after watching the 2000-01 team, it's hard to know what to expect. The NU Athletic Department cares way too much about money Duh.
Basketball gets a pricey coach.
Meanwhile, sports like swimming, wrestling, gymnastics, golf and tennis get far too few scholarships to finance top quality athletes legally. They cheat because of that. Then they get caught for cheating. Then they get their program axed for cheating. Something seems wrong here.