As Martinelli’s Northwestern career ends, his brother recalls how it all began
Many great athletes are developed in backyards and driveways, working against the most intense competition possible, older brothers.
Dom Martinelli sat in the stands Thursday, watching his younger brother Nick finish a stellar career at Northwestern. Nick scored 25 points as the Wildcats were eliminated from the Big Ten Tournament 81-68 by No. 7 seed Purdue at the United Center.
With 51.8 seconds left, NU coach Chris Collins subbed out Martinelli, waved for the crowd to bring the ovation, then hugged his star forward and wouldn't let go. Collins was still whispering in Martinelli's ear when play resumed.
“I told (Collins) he's given me everything I could ask for and more,” Nick Martinelli said at the postgame podium. “It's a family endeavor. I'm super good friends with his son. His dad is reaching out, calling me. It's just all love, everything he's provided for me. I can't thank him enough. It's been such a great ride.”
Collins said he's known Martinelli since he started attending NU camps in fifth or sixth grade. Obviously, the two brothers have known him longer.
“It's funny because whenever we watch these games, it's the same Nick from when he was 5, 6 years old,” Dom Martinelli said. “Hitting those floaters and lefty hooks and stuff like that. He's just doing it on a bigger stage. I'm not surprised, I'm just super proud.”
Dom carries the older brother's burden. He was a star in his own right, at Glenbrook South High School, then one year as a walk-on at Northwestern, before finishing college at St. Thomas in Minnesota.
But the younger brother almost always ends up the better athlete, just from playing against older competition. Eldest brother Jimmy helped in that regard too, but there are four years between Jimmy and Dom, just two between Dom and Nick.
“I had basketball dreams too, but he deserves it,” Dom said. “He's worked his butt off. So I'm proud of him, and I mean, to at least say I was a little piece in helping him get there, that does it for me. I'm happy to watch him and just live in his shoes a little bit.”
Dom reports it was a friendly sibling rivalry growing up. Plenty of competition, few fights.
“The only time we would fight is if one of us lost in anything and was complaining,” Dom said. “It was just competition. We just love to play sports and we love basketball and that's kind of how we became so close. As we grew older, we continued to work out together. He's my best friend.”
Asked his favorite memories of growing up in a basketball household, Dom mentioned the year he and Nick played together on the Glenbrook South varsity in 2019-20.
“Playing on the same team, just driving home from games,” he said. “We beat the school record for wins until he beat it his senior year. It was just being together on and off the court. Just like he's doing now, being able to play in front of all of our family, our parents, grandparents are here, aunts and uncles.”
Nick Martinelli produced the two highest-scoring seasons in Northwestern history the past two years. He'll finish as the school's sixth-leading scorer with 1,787 points, behind Boo Buie, John Shurna, Drew Crawford, Billy McKinney and Evan Eschmeyer. He averaged just 2.6 points as a freshman, then 23.0 as a senior.
Collins mentioned another impressive Martinelli achievement.
“He was a straight-A student at Northwestern,” Collins said. “He's got one more quarter left, but the guy never got a B. How about that? This is someone who has a standard of excellence with everything he does. Just couldn't be more proud of him.”
Purdue shot it well in the first half and pulled out to a 24-point lead at intermission. Northwestern missed injured 6-foot-11 center Arrinten Page in this game, since Purdue won points in the paint 38-18 and rebounds 35-23.
Boilermakers point guard Braden Smith set a Big Ten Tournament record with 16 assists in this game and moved into second place on the NCAA's all-time list of Division I assists, passing Chris Corchiani and trailing Bobby Hurley.