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Northwestern basketball star Brooks Barnhizer pushes forward after losing teeth in practice

Northwestern basketball star Brooks Barnhizer rebounds after losing teeth
Northwestern basketball star Brooks Barnhizer rebounds after losing teeth 03:09

EVANSTON, Ill. (CBS) -- Gritty Northwestern Wildcats basketball guard Brooks Barnhizer epitomizes toughness — having battled a slew of injuries, including a foot issue that slowed the start of his senior season.

Most recently, Barnhizer got his front teeth knocked out during a practice. But he is taking that latest obstacle in stride too.

Barnhizer's journey to becoming a standout at Northwestern came with a lot of hard work. He saw limited playing time as a freshman and came off the bench as a sophomore, before earning a starting job as a junior and team captain.

"When I faced that adversity, I just always knew that this was always my home — and this would be my home forever," Barnhizer said, "and you know, I just wanted to make the most my time here — and I feel like I've really done that."

Barnhizer continues to make an impact as a senior. At one point this season, he went on a seven-game double-double streak.

"You know, this is a program where there's not a lot of turnover. You know, we kind of like develop players from where they get here to when they graduate," Barnhizer said. "So I mean, those guys mean the world to me. You know, I kind of look at Coach Collins as like a second father."

Head Coach Chris Collins runs tough practices, according to Barnhizer, who is no stranger to being tough himself — especially after getting his two front teeth knocked out during a practice this season.

"I mean, I just came over, you know, trying to make an everyday play, just taking charge, and the GA who was driving just kind of jumped up and threw a pass to the corner and his elbow just kind of hit me in the mouth," Barnhizer said. "It was funny — my whole team was looking down and just looking at me, they were like, from the looks on their faces, I knew it wasn't pretty."

Barnhizer was rushed to a dentist and got a bone graft. The injury was as painful as it sounds.

"Yeah, it hurt for sure, but I mean like, it also hurts to like not play, and it hurts to lose and stuff like that," Barnhizer said, "so I mean, if that is, you know, the trade for winning, or if that's the trade for, you know, playing the game I love, I'm going to do it every time."

Barnhizer will have surgery after the season. For now, he is playing with a flipper in place of his lost teeth — something he was reminded of in the game against Purdue.

"When I saw my teeth on the ground, I knew I was going to have to get them fixed and stuff," said Barnhizer. "But I knew I had to play the rest of the game. I think they called me for a double dribble, and we were down a lot, so it wasn't really a great day."

Three days later, Barnhizer had a new flipper — and luckily, he also has had a family member to lean on during a learning process.

"You know, my uncle is an orthodontist," Barnhizer said "So he was telling me like when I get the flipper, how to talk with it, how to, you know, like practice certain words."

Barnhizer has been able to lean on his uncle's knowledge, but also learned a little about how to handle a teeth issue by watching a former teammate, Boo Buie, go through something similar.

"It's the second year in a row we've had teeth issues from being just like in practice. He either dove for a ball or he got knocked to the ground and his actually front tooth got chipped. He had like a mouth guard that had like a tooth like connected to it that he would wear, and it just looked like he didn't have anything going on," said Barnhizer. "So definitely took a page out of his book for that."

For now, wearing fake teeth is only the way Barnhizer wants it.

"It would be funny if people were staring at my face, like, 'Bro, you look crazy,'" he said. "So if I can look normal and just go out there and hoop, it's all good."

Barnhizer and his teeth are locked in as he tries to help the Wildcats make a third straight NCAA Tourney appearance.

Barnhizer topped the 1,000 career points mark a couple of weeks ago. He and teammate Nick Martinelli are top-10 scorers in the Big Ten.

The 12-8 'Cats start a three-game homestand on Wednesday night against Rutgers.

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