Before Kat Righeimer buried a three-pointer from two steps behind the arc against Penn State in February, a shot good enough to draw a comparison to Kobe Bryant from my colleague Jack Spector, the guard had spent the better part of her two collegiate seasons deep in the rotation.
The 6-foot-1 guard out of Costa Mesa, California first in Evanston in the fall of 2024 with a résumé that demanded attention. In her four years on the varsity squad at Sage Hill School, Righeimer averaged 11 points and five
rebounds per game every season of her prep career and helped lead the Lightning to a California Division II State Championship. In that time, she had also trained at the fabled Mamba Sports Academy under the mentorship of the aforementioned Kobe Bryant.
Even so, she walked on her freshman year at Northwestern and was mostly invisible from the outside with little minutes, rarely playing more than 10 minutes. But last season in a January game against rival Illinois, she was able to score her first collegiate points with perfect efficiency, going 3-of-3 from the field which was good for seven points and also grabbing four rebounds, dishing out two assists and getting a steal in just 13 minutes. Despite the game coming in a 35-point loss to the Illini, it was enough of a glimpse for Northwestern to reward her with a scholarship ahead of the 2025-26 season.
Righeimer continued her sophomore campaign, however, the same way she did the year prior. In the first nine games, she averaged just under five minutes per contest, only able to fit in when the situation allowed. Her highlight of the first half of the season was a 22-minute outing at George Washington in December — where she had five points, two steals and two blocks — which was largely due to the absence of Grace Sullivan. All in all, Righeimer had only logged a total of 54 minutes and scored just 12 total points in that time on the floor.
Righeimer’s opportunity started to arise when starter Tayla Thomas went down early in a game against USC on Feb. 5, playing just six minutes in the game. Coach Joe McKeown decided to turn towards Righeimer, and she delivered. In 18 minutes against the Trojans, she scored six points and grabbed six big rebounds, providing enough of a shift that led to Northwestern outscoring USC by seven in the second half of a game they lost by 18. While not enough to change the result of the game, it was enough to change her role. In the final seven games of the season, Righeimer jumped up to an average of 4.9 points, 2.1 rebounds and an impressive 38.5% from deep on a team that lacked shooting.
The highlight of her season came on Feb. 15 at Penn State. Up to that point, she had just 18 total points scored on the season. In that game, Righeimer matched that point total, going for a career-high 18 points on 5-for-6 shooting, 3-for-4 from three and 5-for-6 from the line. She was Northwestern’s leading scorer in an 81-71 loss where the Wildcats clawed back from 20 to three in the final minute of the game before the Nittany Lions won the foul game.
While we’ve yet to see what the roster will look like in 2026-27, Righeimer made a good case to new head coach Carla Berube, showing promise in those final six games. For a program that’s undergoing its first big transition after 18 years of McKeown, that kind of player — one who waited, worked and delivered when opportunity arrived — could be exactly what Berube is looking for.
