Cheering with Boos

After Northwestern lost back-to-back games against Iowa and Michigan this winter, Buie says people began to count them out. The team held a players-only meeting to get things off their chest and hold each other accountable. Buie describes this as the turning point of the season, as the ‘Cats went on to win five straight games.

With each win, the excitement around Northwestern basketball grew. Students crashed ticket websites, vying for a chance to see Buie and his team play.

“Words can’t even describe the support and what the students did this year. Seeing the lines outside the door before the game — students don’t know how much it actually means to the program and to the players,” Buie says.

Buie reflects on attendance in past seasons and how the environment of Welsh-Ryan Arena this season differed from years prior.

“You’re talking to a guy who has been in the gym where there are only about 200 people total, and it’s a bunch of season ticket holders and little kids that got invited from some camp,” Buie says.

At Northwestern home games this season, fans yelled “Boo”s directed not at the refs or the opposing team but at their own star player. While to some this might be distracting, Buie says the chants never phased him. He says he knew when he was at WelshRyan Arena, the “Boo”s were for him. His childhood nickname is now a celebratory chant across the Northwestern community.

As fans got more invested in the team and the crowds got rowdier, Welsh-Ryan Arena became one of the best environments in college basketball. Students cheered loudly and taunted even louder.

“The heckling to the opposing teams was awesome. I know they definitely didn’t like that chicken sandwich chant,” Buie says, referencing the Chick-fil-A free sandwich promotion for fans if the opposing team missed eight free throws.

Buie became a bit of a celebrity as the Wildcats got hot. He says fans would stop him when he walked around the Chicagoland area, thanking him for the season. A lot of fans reached out over social media to express their support.

One group in particular got Buie’s attention. Buie says he was added to an Instagram group chat of Northwestern students in early February. Buie says he did not know anyone in the group chat and the messaging primarily consisted of Instagram reels. He says he tried to leave the group chat, but the fans were persistent, adding him back a couple of days later.

Buie says the group began to send memes related to Northwestern basketball. Once he finally started reading them, he thought they were quite funny.

“That shit was hilarious, bro,” Buie says. “That was the biggest support I had all year.”

Buie’s stellar season helped Northwestern reach the NCAA tournament for the second time in school history. For most people, playing in March Madness would come with some added pressure, but Buie says all the hardship from his previous years had prepared him for the moment.

“I knew I was going to have to up my playing standards, but I relied on my work and trusted in myself and I knew everything was going to be good,” Buie says.

Northwestern entered halftime down 10 in their second-round matchup against UCLA. The Wildcats came out on fire to start the second half. Buie says there was not a big halftime speech to spark the run but that the “win or go home” mindset pushed them to fight back. While the comeback fell short, Buie says one of the goals of the season was to make everyone proud, and he thinks they did that in the second half. That did not mean the loss stung any less.

“We were sad because we knew it was really over and this team was never going to play together again,” Buie says.

While Buie still has one year left, he credits his teammates, coaches and family for his success thus far. He promised to come to Northwestern and give it his all, and he has lived up to his word. After such a magical season, Buie has nothing but appreciation for Northwestern.

“It’s every kid’s dream, growing up in athletics, to play in front of a big crowd and in a fun environment,” Buie says. “I couldn’t be more grateful.”