2017-2018 Purdue Overview

[nagemj02]

(This is done with the belief that Biggie will stay in the NBA Draft this year. This is also done without any of the possible additions or subtractions of players in the coming months.)

(I'll list players' 2016-2017 shooting percentages that are 45% or better on FG's, 75% or better on FT's, and 35% or better on 3PT's, if the player averaged at least a minimum of 1 attempt per game for each category. IMO, the percentages at that average or better are above-average numbers for a college basketball player.)


Purdue Boilermakers:

2016-2017 Overall Record: 27-8 (14-4 in B1G, 1st place)

Final Postseason Game: Lost to Kansas in an NCAA Tournament Midwest Regional Semifinal

Head Coach: Matt Painter (13th season)


Starters Lost: (1)

-PF/C Caleb "Biggie" Swanigan (18.5 PPG, 12.5 RPG, 3.1 APG, 3.4 TPG, 2.8 FPG, 53% FG's, 78% FT's, 45% 3PT's, 32.5 MPG, 35 GP: NBA Draft early-entrant)


Other Regulars Lost: (2)

-PG Michael "Spike" Albrecht (1.6 PPG, 12.5 MPG, 28 GP)

-SF/PF Basil Smotherman (3.9 PPG, 56% FG's, 12.1 MPG, 18 GP: dismissed from program halfway through the season)



Starters Returning: (4)

-PG/SG #11 P.J. Thompson 5'10 (Sr.) (7.4 PPG, 2.1 RPG, 1 SPG, 2.9 APG, 46% FG's, 40% 3PT's, 28.6 MPG, 35 GP)

-SG/PG #3 Carsen Edwards 6'0 (So.) (10.3 PPG, 2.6 RPG, 1 SPG, 23.3 MPG, 35 GP)

-SG #31 Dakota Mathias 6'4 (Sr.) (9.7 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 3.8 APG, 47% FG's, 82% FT's, 45% 3PT's, 31.8 MPG, 35 GP)

-SF/PF #12 Vince Edwards 6'8 (Sr.) (12.6 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 3.2 APG, 49% FG's, 83% FT's, 42% 3PT's, 28.6 MPG, 35 GP)



Other Regulars Returning: (3)

-SG #14 Ryan Cline 6'5 (Jr.) (5.4 PPG, 2 RPG, 41% 3PT's, 21.4 MPG, 31 GP)

-C/PF #23 Jacquil Taylor 6'10 (RS So.) (redshirted two of the past three seasons due to injury)

-C #44 Isaac Haas 7'2 (Sr.) (12.6 PPG, 5 RPG, 2.2 TPG, 59% FG's, 19.5 MPG, 35 GP)



Newcomers: (5)

-PF/SF Eden Ewing 6'9 (Jr.) (JC transfer)

-PF/C Matt Haarms 7'2 (RS Fr.) (enrolled early and sat out spring semester)

-CG/SF Nojel Eastern 6'5 (Fr.)

-SF Aaron Wheeler 6'7 (Fr.)

-SG Sasha Stefanovic 6'3 (Fr.)

 

[mathboy]

Nicely done. You might add the players coming into the team as well. That would be a nice set to have handy.

 

[punaj]

There seems to be a much more athletic group of guys coming in. Will be great to see them with Carson and also compliment the set of sharp shooter we have now.

 

[nagemj02]

There seems to be a much more athletic group of guys coming in. Will be great to see them with Carson and also compliment the set of sharp shooter we have now.

Yes, Eastern and Wheeler will be athletic upgrades. I'm not sure on Ewing's overall athleticism. I've only seen a single highlight video of him.

 

[Summy1]

Which of the new players do you think will redshirt?

 

[daisyrail1619]

Wrong heights. Eastern is betw 6'6-6'7 and Wheeler is 6'9 now

 

[nagemj02]

Which of the new players do you think will redshirt?

Stefanovic is the only one that's a redshirt candidate, IMO. If Painter and staff wanted to make room for another scholarship player but also keep Stefanovic playing (as opposed to redshirting), he could have him go to prep school for a year (Haarms and Wheeler were/are both at ones this school year).

 

[nagemj02]

Wrong heights. Eastern is betw 6'6-6'7 and Wheeler is 6'9 now

Those are usually exaggerated. I'd rather low-ball their heights and be pleasantly surprised than over-list them and be a little bit disappointed later. With that said, I still try to get player's heights as close to accurate as possible.

 

[Beeazlebub]

Which of the new players do you think will redshirt?

Stefanovic seems a likely candidate for redshirt given Mathias/Cline/C. Edwards all presumably will play ahead of him.

Haarms burned his shirt this past season

Ewing is a JUCO, so shirting seems highly unlikely

Eastern is wired to play right away as a back-up PG

Wheeler is the 2nd most likely redshirt, but I think he'll play

 

[daisyrail1619]

Whatever Biggie comes back or not, according to this roster our rebounds must suffer unless Haas can play more than 20 mins a game which is kinda difficult. If Taylor is healthy, I'd say bring the swatter papers back. I'm not hoping him come back cause I feel like both Haas and Vince need to get significant minutes and big games next year to get drafted. If he comes back both of our seniors will get dimmed. From what I saw so far our 5 newcomers are all significantly more athletic than anyone on current roster except Sasha is definitely slower than Carsen and Haarms as a big will not be as fast as Carsen. Eastern is our biggest get I'd say, he's more versatile than anyone and I've already stunned by some of his passing moves. I feel like this class is so much like 14. We already got 5 recruits and they're not 5 stars which mean that they have potential to improve. Only Eastern is comparable with Haas when he was a 4-star recruit. I can see Wheeler developing like another Vince and even better than Vince at the end. Compare to our experience I'd say Haarms is our biggest challenge. We never recruited a lanky 7'2 guy who looks so much like KristapsPorzingis and also has similar skills that play 4, he will be a matchup nightmare for sure it all depends on how CMP is gonna develop him. He's not a traditional 5 and he's definitely big for a 4. With Biggie's departure and Haas's inconsistency sometimes he has to play 5 which is not where his strength is at. Ewing can easily backup for Vince and sometimes we can also play triple tower because we do have more bigs next season. Size is our strength, I hope Painter won't waste it. As long as the Vince with 4 guards thing not happen again I will be just fine. Wheeler played 5 in high school and he's pretty solid at both 4 and 5. So he's definitely a better choice than Haarms. But who knows, maybe we will eventually turn down another Sparty which is only happening in my dream or get another transfer but not Mark Donnal, we cannot afford to have another skinny big guy, we have enough of them. I am counting on Ondigo as our last hope. I want him to commit now!

 

[Boilerkid18]

http://www.maxpreps.com/m/article.aspx?articleid=363e96d4-216e-4ca9-8319-5da1cbba579e

Nojel Eastern is mentioned, seems like he could be our future Lonzo Ball without the daddy issues.

An all-around player who could start a good pipleline of tall, athletic point guards who have the size of a 3 man. I think he will be lethal in Painters motion O.

 

[nagemj02]

Whatever Biggie comes back or not, according to this roster our rebounds must suffer unless Haas can play more than 20 mins a game which is kinda difficult. If Taylor is healthy, I'd say bring the swatter papers back. I'm not hoping him come back cause I feel like both Haas and Vince need to get significant minutes and big games next year to get drafted. If he comes back both of our seniors will get dimmed. From what I saw so far our 5 newcomers are all significantly more athletic than anyone on current roster except Sasha is definitely slower than Carsen and Haarms as a big will not be as fast as Carsen. Eastern is our biggest get I'd say, he's more versatile than anyone and I've already stunned by some of his passing moves. I feel like this class is so much like 14. We already got 5 recruits and they're not 5 stars which mean that they have potential to improve. Only Eastern is comparable with Haas when he was a 4-star recruit. I can see Wheeler developing like another Vince and even better than Vince at the end. Compare to our experience I'd say Haarms is our biggest challenge. We never recruited a lanky 7'2 guy who looks so much like KristapsPorzingis and also has similar skills that play 4, he will be a matchup nightmare for sure it all depends on how CMP is gonna develop him. He's not a traditional 5 and he's definitely big for a 4. With Biggie's departure and Haas's inconsistency sometimes he has to play 5 which is not where his strength is at. Ewing can easily backup for Vince and sometimes we can also play triple tower because we do have more bigs next season. Size is our strength, I hope Painter won't waste it. As long as the Vince with 4 guards thing not happen again I will be just fine. Wheeler played 5 in high school and he's pretty solid at both 4 and 5. So he's definitely a better choice than Haarms. But who knows, maybe we will eventually turn down another Sparty which is only happening in my dream or get another transfer but not Mark Donnal, we cannot afford to have another skinny big guy, we have enough of them. I am counting on Ondigo as our last hope. I want him to commit now!

There's no reason for him to come back if he has NBA aspirations. Right now, his draft stock is as high as it's going to be.

 

[daisyrail1619]

http://www.maxpreps.com/m/article.aspx?articleid=363e96d4-216e-4ca9-8319-5da1cbba579e

Nojel Eastern is mentioned, seems like he could be our future Lonzo Ball without the daddy issues.

An all-around player who could start a good pipleline of tall, athletic point guards who have the size of a 3 man. I think he will be lethal in Painters motion O.

Love that 'without daddy issues'
And we keep getting PG with baby faces, Carsen and Nojel are just like babies when they smile.

 

[daisyrail1619]

There's no reason for him to come back if he has NBA aspirations. Right now, his draft stock is as high as it's going to be.

I didn't say he comes back I just evaluated our 1718 roster without Biggie

 

[nagemj02]

I didn't say he comes back I just evaluated our 1718 roster without Biggie

I was simply addressing the opener to your message: "Whether Biggie comes back or not...".

 

[nagemj02]

Stefanovic seems a likely candidate for redshirt given Mathias/Cline/C. Edwards all presumably will play ahead of him.

Haarms burned his shirt this past season

Ewing is a JUCO, so shirting seems highly unlikely

Eastern is wired to play right away as a back-up PG

Wheeler is the 2nd most likely redshirt, but I think he'll play

I don't know if all of those four (Eastern, Wheeler, Ewing, Haarms) will be regular rotation players, but I would expect all of them to get significant minutes at one time or another (IMO, Haarms and Ewing are the guys that could be "semi-regulars").

 

[ChoiceBeef]

I don't know if all of those four (Eastern, Wheeler, Ewing, Haarms) will be regular rotation players, but I would expect all of them to get significant minutes at one time or another (IMO, Haarms and Ewing are the guys that could be "semi-regulars").

Hopefully with them playing in the University Games - they will gel quickly and be able to be regular contributors.

 

[Boiler Buck]

I think our offensive rebounding possibly improves for 2017.....assuming these athletic newcomers can follow the game plan & more importantly play D....which is how you see the floor at Purdue. But that might be assuming too much....as they haven't played a minute of D1!ball yet.