Can Northwestern's bench get any more depleted?

Before the Wildcats tipped off with Purdue Saturday at Welsh-Ryan Arena, word leaked out that center Luka Mirkovic was day-to-day with an injured ankle.

But the bigger news was about football. Former five-star wide receiver Kyle Prater, a Proviso West product and a transfer from USC, committed to Pat Fitzgerald and the Wildcats Saturday. Prater had said that he wanted to leave USC to be closer to his family in west suburban Maywood.

The 6-5 Prater had said he was also thinking of Illinois and Wisconsin, but last week told the Sun-Times in a phone interview that he had only scheduled one official visit: and that was to Northwestern.