Northwestern Kid refers to John Phillips, son of Athletic Director of Northwestern's Jim Phillips. He became an internet sensation and a viral meme after he was recorded during a March Madness game.

On March 18, 2017, Northwestern faced Gonzaga in the second round of the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. CBS Sports broadcast the game and showed John Phillips on the screen numerous times. He was wearing a #4 Northwestern Wildcats jersey; Northwestern's small forward Vic Law wore that number during that season. ^[1]

CBS continued to give the Northwestern Kid airtime, as he reacted to several plays throughout the game. ^[7]CBS showed him 13 times during the broadcast. ^[11]

With 4:58 left to play in the second half, with the score 63-58 in favor of Gonzaga, Dererk Pardon drove to the basket attempting to go for a dunk. Gonzaga's Zach Collins blocked the shot with his hand inside the cylinder. Northwestern's coach Chris Collins received a technical foul for arguing with the referees about missing a goaltending call. ^[6]

Cameras caught the Northwestern Kid teary-eyed, red-faced and yelling "Oh my god" and "this is so bad."

^[1]

At this point, Northwestern had cut the lead to 5 points after trailing by as many as 20 (32-12).

^[6]

Sources say Jim Phillips consoled his son during timeouts.

^[3]

Northwestern eventually lost the game, 79-73, making it their first-ever loss in a NCAA Tournament game.

^[4]John Phillips received a hug at the end of the game.

^[11]

NorthwesternKid became a hashtag, ^[10]@KidNorthwestern became a Twitter account, and the kid himself became of symbol of close losses, busted brackets and all the other forms of anguish the NCAA tournament delivers. ^[1]

One Twitter user even pointed out the 420 jersey combination between and the person sitting next to him. ^[15]