Welcome back college basketball: Our takeaways from Northwestern, Notre Dame and the first night of basketball

Welcome back, college basketball.

Nearly every team in Illinois was active on Monday, from Illinois to Bradley, to Northwestern, DePaul, Loyola and UIC.

Here are some takeaways from the first night of college basketball.

Notre Dame has a star in Olivia Miles

For the first time since the 2022-2023 season, guard Olivia Miles saw playing time for the Fighting Irish.

She made every second count.

In 32 minutes in Notre Dame's season opener against Mercyhurst, Miles recorded a triple-double with 20 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.

That's a reminder of how talented the Irish are this year. Sophomore Hannah Hidalgo was stellar as a freshman. Notre Dame added another talented freshman in Kate Koval. Liatu King led all Irish players with 24.

But Miles adds an elite point guard to the Irish's rotation. Hidalgo has a chance to be a superstar. She flirted with a triple double herself with 19 points, nine rebounds and six steals. 

But, with Miles the Irish are Final Four contender. With time, she might make them become a Final Four favorite.

Northwestern's guard rotation impresses

Heading into the 2024-2025 season, it's fair to assume most of what Northwestern does will revolve around two players: Ty Berry and Brooks Barnhizer.

NU is at its best when it is a guard-led team. Boo Buie and Chase Adigue set the standard two years ago. Buie and Barnzier continued it last season.

Although Berry and Barnizer are assumed to take over the leading mantle, the two didn't play much on Monday.

Barnhizer is continuing to recover from a stress fracture he suffered during the off-season. It's not expected to be a long-term injury, but he was sidelined on Monday. Berry only played 10 minutes as he battled foul trouble and continued his ramp up process from the knee injury that cut his season short last year.

In their place, KJ Windham and Jalen Leach both looked like players capable of distributing the ball at a high level. Windham, a true freshman, scored 10 points and dished six assists. Leach, a transfer from Fairfield, scored 12 points and also dished six assists.

With Berry and Barnzier being expected to front the brunt of the offensive efforts for NU, having Windham and Leach emerge as talented distributors can only help the Wildcats.

First-year head coaches grab their first wins

DePaul's Chris Holtmann and UIC's Rob Ehsan coached their first games at their new homes on Monday.

They got their first wins.

Holtmann's Blue Demons beat Southern Indiana 80-78 in overtime and Eshan's Flames beat St. Francis 91-43.

The two were hired this offseason and immediately went to work rebuilding their rosters. Ehsan inherited just two players. Holtmann remade his roster from scratch.

They're both 1-0. 

It might be a good year for basketball in Illinois

The Illini beat up Eastern Illinois. Bradley, the Missouri Valley Conference preseason pick to win the conference, started 1-0 win with a win over SEMO. Loyola shook off some cobwebs to beat Chicago State.

Considering the talent around the state and the potential that's been developed over the year, statewide might see an influx of success.

The Illini and Ramblers are aiming to replicate success from their Elite Eight season last year. Bradley wants to follow through on its high preseason billing. DePaul and UIC want to build a path for future success. Northwestern wants to make history.

All of those programs got off to great starts on Monday.