Let me take you back to when Dravyn Gibbs-Lawhorn was being recruited and how I told you that I didn't think Purdue would take him if he wanted to commit.
Today, you see why that was a question around a player unquestionably talented enough to help a place like Purdue.
As is generally apparent when a player switches high schools three times in as many years — and he may be headed to No. 4 for all we know — this one was going to be all over the map, defined by impulse, and when he committed to Purdue so early, this day seemed inevitable. There is very little stability around this one, and knowing what I know about those around him, he may be better off getting away from Lafayette anyway.
I don't think this was about any particular other school. I also don't know if he played so well in July where he'd be a player that big-time schools would be compelled to come at him. There's simply no way Kentucky is coming after him, but I have heard a couple of other schools have.
What I can tell you is that I spent some time around his circle this spring, this was never going to work at Purdue. If it wasn't decommitting prior to signing, it would have been transferring at the semester or at best after his freshman season.
That's just how it was going to be, and Matt Painter went into this with his eyes wide open to the realities of this one. He's known his dad for years, coached him for a year in college even. Purdue never would have recruited the player in the first place if he didn't grow up in town here.
Purdue rolled the dice here, and got burned, but the reality here is that this was an inevitable pain in the you know what that just got sidestepped. I'm not sure Purdue was willing to put up with it all anymore anyway.
Don't get me wrong: If it was just the player, that maybe could have managed. He's a bit flighty and all that, but the sort of player coaches feel they can surround with stability and make work. Carsen Edwards would be a good example. You just can't have a bunch of them. But the player plus the family was just too much.
It sucks for Purdue that this went the way it did, though as I said, Painter knew the deal here all along. He knew what he was getting into.
But it sucks more than this didn't happen months ago, when Markus Burton could have been offered and probably locked down.
That's recruiting.
Today, you see why that was a question around a player unquestionably talented enough to help a place like Purdue.
As is generally apparent when a player switches high schools three times in as many years — and he may be headed to No. 4 for all we know — this one was going to be all over the map, defined by impulse, and when he committed to Purdue so early, this day seemed inevitable. There is very little stability around this one, and knowing what I know about those around him, he may be better off getting away from Lafayette anyway.
I don't think this was about any particular other school. I also don't know if he played so well in July where he'd be a player that big-time schools would be compelled to come at him. There's simply no way Kentucky is coming after him, but I have heard a couple of other schools have.
What I can tell you is that I spent some time around his circle this spring, this was never going to work at Purdue. If it wasn't decommitting prior to signing, it would have been transferring at the semester or at best after his freshman season.
That's just how it was going to be, and Matt Painter went into this with his eyes wide open to the realities of this one. He's known his dad for years, coached him for a year in college even. Purdue never would have recruited the player in the first place if he didn't grow up in town here.
Purdue rolled the dice here, and got burned, but the reality here is that this was an inevitable pain in the you know what that just got sidestepped. I'm not sure Purdue was willing to put up with it all anymore anyway.
Don't get me wrong: If it was just the player, that maybe could have managed. He's a bit flighty and all that, but the sort of player coaches feel they can surround with stability and make work. Carsen Edwards would be a good example. You just can't have a bunch of them. But the player plus the family was just too much.
It sucks for Purdue that this went the way it did, though as I said, Painter knew the deal here all along. He knew what he was getting into.
But it sucks more than this didn't happen months ago, when Markus Burton could have been offered and probably locked down.
That's recruiting.
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