From Albany to Evanston

A big reason for Buie’s star season was a key addition to the coaching staff. Talor Battle, Buie’s half-brother, joined him on the Northwestern bench as an assistant coach. Battle — who played for Pennsylvania State University from 2007-2011 — brought experience and a personal connection, which helped unlock Buie’s game.

Battle is 11 years older than Buie and the third eldest of ten. Buie and his siblings grew up in a small, inner-city house in Albany. Battle was the first person in his family to graduate from college and says it was important to him to set an example for his younger siblings, adding that their upbringing was certainly not “peaches and cream.”

“It wasn’t always great, but the one thing we could always get to was a basketball,” Battle says. “Basketball was an escape for all of us. It was something we always had to keep us out of trouble and could use to try to change our lives.”

Battle remembers Buie shooting his diapers in the trash and rolling up socks and throwing them in the laundry basket. Battle says all of Buie’s older brothers toughened him up over the years, making him the player he is today.

When Battle got to Northwestern, he easily identified what Buie needed to work on. As someone who has watched Buie play his whole life, Battle knew he needed to get stronger so he could play off two feet, improve his finishing around the rim and become a stronger defender.

Battle says Buie made life easier on the coaches this season. Buie became a natural leader, and his growth and maturity off the court were reflected during games, Battle says.

“I don’t want to take any credit for that,” Battle says. “That was all him. He grew up and matured.”

Instead of getting on a group FaceTime call like many families do to catch up, the Buies play video games. With headphones and a microphone set up, the brothers chat while playing Fortnite and some of their other favorite games.

“He’s probably the best out of the bunch, and he does not let us hear the end of it,” Battle says.

When asked what it was like to have his brother join the coaching staff, Buie expressed that it had its pros and cons.

“Yeah, honestly, it was quite annoying,” Buie says.

Battle understands where his brother is coming from. He nitpicks Buie’s game, holding him accountable for everything, as he’s done since they were kids.

Buie says Battle did not hold back critiquing him, something other coaches are not as willing to do. This type of accountability is what helped Buie break out in 2023. Buie says they were both “super dialed in” and all of their conversations during the season centered around what he needed to do to improve.

Beyond Battle’s success at Pennsylvania State, another of Buie’s older brothers, Taran Buie, was a high school star who went on to play college ball at Penn State and Hofstra University. Buie says he models his game after Taran and Battle.

“I remember being three years old at my brother’s basketball games and I would get in trouble because I would run on the court,” Buie says. “I remember shooting at halftime or trying to run on the court and shoot when there was a timeout.”