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Welcome to this week's “BOILING OVER,” GoldandBlack.com’s weekly information-clearinghouse and analysis column meant for our site members and site members only. We appreciate everyone’s cooperation in helping us keep what is sometimes delicate or proprietary information confined to this message board. This feature allows us to be more flexible in our reporting, to our readers' benefit, and we lose that ability if we can't keep this feature secure and the value of our site's membership at its peak. Additionally, we address recruiting and hiring processes in-depth and often without filter in this feature and we do it behind a subscription-protected barrier for a reason, in hopes of avoiding situations where our reporting can impact the recruiting process, which can happen occasionally.
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PURDUE BASKETBALL
A few notes we have gleaned from some preseason interviews and the ever-popular scuttlebutt circuit.
• Fletcher Loyer is going to play a lot, if not start. Purdue loves his IQ, his shot-making and his confidence.
• Trey Kaufman-Renn is Purdue's 'second-best' post-up scorer and they'll scheme to try to get him opportunities in that regard. Whether that can be done with Zach Edey on the floor from a spacing perspective, remains to be seen. Caleb Furst is shooting the you-know-what out of the ball, so the possibility of a high-low situation with those two may be real.
• Furst has made real strides in his strength and physicality to go along with the effort that's always been a constant. They're high on his pick-and-pop potential offensively and he's Purdue's best interior defender.
• Long way to go defensively, but they're trying hard and listening.
• David Jenkins is playing hard on defense, which has been a very positive thing, but offensively, he's still not a point guard.
• Braden Smith seems to be virtually Sharpie'd in as the starting point guard and not just by default. Purdue loves his feel for the game, his tenacity and selflessness.
The question I asked a couple people was whether Purdue can have two guys on the floor together who are reluctant to shoot in Smith and Ethan Morton, but the upshot in their ball-moving ability as long as there are shot-makers out there, too.
• This could be a pretty physical team. Smith, Jenkins and Brandon Newman are all strong and physical and outside of Fletcher Loyer, that's a pretty common thread, including the Furst-Kaufman-Renn-Mason Gillis trio in the frontcourt.
• Purdue loves its frontcourt.
• Does sound like Brian Waddell still has a bit of a process ahead of him here in terms of getting back to what he was.
• Pretty much a given I'd say that William Berg redshirts, and though this decision is a long way off, Camden Heide did miss a lot of practice this summer and that point comes up quite a bit In relation to his season ahead, so he may be a possibility also.
• Consensus on Zach Edey's minutes is more along the lines of them hoping for 25 of his best minutes more than him playing 30-plus just because.
• They really are counting on Brandon Newman to score for them this season, but he still has some things he has to prove in order to be in that position, especially at the defensive end.
• Purdue is confident in its ability offensively and hoping to have a really strong passing and decision-making team and hoping that defenses double-team Zach Edey so they can play off that. Limiting turnovers is obviously a critical emphasis and part of the solution from a defensive perspective.
• Ethan Morton's their best defender and will play a lot of a point guard-type role. We'd expect the ball in his hands quite a bit regardless of what position he's playing. He's gonna be a starter and log big minutes.
Standard reminder that just because a player is not mentioned here, that does not mean he's terrible or transferring. (BN)
PURDUE FOOTBALL RECRUITING
As you know, Purdue along with 200 of its closest Division I football friends will be very active In the transfer portal again, but It bears pointing out that things are very different now. There's basically no real (legal) recruiting of transfers outside of these new portal windows: 1) the 45 days following the announcement of the CFP field and 2) May 1-15.
Right now, the portal is basically being emptied.
This presumably doesn't mean that players can't publicize their plans to transfer or whatever, but schools aren't going to be able to (legally) actively recruit them until they're in the portal, during one of those two windows.
This is not an insignificant change, because, yes, there were robust prospect pools out there in-season the past few years that schools could at least begin scouting or doing legwork on.
Now that's presumably going to be different.
For those who'll be looking for significant numbers from the portal every year, this could make things more difficult. We'd consider Purdue a high-volume portal team. Not as much as schools with new staffs would be, but as is, Purdue's going to be a place that'll probably grab 8-12 guys a year, scholarship space permitting.
This year, provided things remain as is, quarterback and tight end seem like non-negotiable needs, and the offensive line is an annual pursuit and receiver may be too. Running back may be a must too. So basically every position on offense.
Defensively, it remains to be seen. Linebacker?
Anyway, just wanted to point out that this is going to be a very different landscape right now. (BN)
PURDUE BASKETBALL RECRUITING
• Purdue center target JT Rock is officially visiting for the Nov. 15 Marquette game. That one's probably going to wind up being a national recruitment, but Purdue's gotten in there early. Iowa State's going to be a real factor, also, among others.
• On his official visit, 2024 commitment Kanon Catchings measured in at just north of 6-foot-8.
• Couple players Matt Painter's been out to see this week: 2024 Franklin guard Micah Davis; 2025 Southern Indiana target Trent Sisley; 2024 commit Jack Benter; and 2023 commit Myles Colvin. We think he may have popped in for Flory Bidunga as well.
Travis Perry and Raleigh Burgess should get visits next week, we think, and Gicarri Harris, as well.
Purdue's done a nice job with Burgess thus far, seems like, but there's a long way to go there.
