CHICAGO (AP) — No matter how this season unfolds, Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald insists there is no more unified team than his Wildcats.

He credits the push to unionize.

Fitzgerald says he’s “proud of the maturity” his players displayed as the story unfolded. He spoke Monday on the first day of the Big Ten’s two-day media event.

Northwestern is at the forefront of the movement, with former quarterback Kain Colter leading the push to form the first union for college athletes.

A regional director of the National Labor Relations Board ruled in March that Northwestern’s full scholarship players can bargain with the school as employees. Players voted in April on whether to form the first union for college athletes. The result is not known because the NLRB impounded the ballots.