Hello, me again.
Spent the morning and afternoon in Noblesville and West Lafayette to see two players and two players only and here are some thoughts.
First off, context.
It is the least of the world's problems right now, but these make-the-best-of-it events are not competitive. The better teams, who all would be playing against one another right now, are just too good.
Anyway ...
In two obliterations of overmatched teams, long-time Purdue target Trey Kaufman looked, well, awesome. He looks bigger, stronger, quicker and more assertive and the way he shot the three with both effectiveness and authority really stood out. He attacked the basket off the dribble with a quickness that seems improved and he just looked really, really good. Keep in mind, he was not challenged by either opponent I saw him play this morning, and that's part of the story, but not all of it.
If Purdue's fortunate enough to be in position to get this player, it must, in my opinion. He and Caleb Furst could be really, really good together, IMO, and Kaufman talked of that dynamic today almost as a plus instead of detriment to Purdue's chances, or at least something that would give him pause. We'll run the full interview Monday and the video clips whenever we get them edited.
I don't think Kaufman would be ideal on the wing in college, because you have to have guard skills at that spot nowadays and more importantly you have to be able to guard wings, but he looked much more plausible there today than he did last I saw him.
Again, full story to come ...
The budding star at McCutcheon averaged 21 points per game starting from Day 1 for the Mavericks and figures to be a pretty highly sought-after player. It's a little early for recruiting, but he said Purdue, Indiana, Butler, Xavier, Michigan State and Cincinnati are among those interested. Not sure whether there's any predisposition here for Purdue with him being a local kid, but they'll recruit him pretty seriously, I'm quite certain.
I just saw one of his two games today because of the schedule and the travel time from one event to the other, but in the game I saw he didn't make any jumpers, really, but he looked good and confident shooting them, but did impress with his speed and creativity as a scorer. For a smaller guard, he's very good at finishing at the basket and he's very good at navigating traffic, with some of the "sauce" — and I mean that in a good way — he has to his game. Looks like a future scoring combo guard to me.
Story on him to come also.
Spent the morning and afternoon in Noblesville and West Lafayette to see two players and two players only and here are some thoughts.
First off, context.
It is the least of the world's problems right now, but these make-the-best-of-it events are not competitive. The better teams, who all would be playing against one another right now, are just too good.
Anyway ...
In two obliterations of overmatched teams, long-time Purdue target Trey Kaufman looked, well, awesome. He looks bigger, stronger, quicker and more assertive and the way he shot the three with both effectiveness and authority really stood out. He attacked the basket off the dribble with a quickness that seems improved and he just looked really, really good. Keep in mind, he was not challenged by either opponent I saw him play this morning, and that's part of the story, but not all of it.
If Purdue's fortunate enough to be in position to get this player, it must, in my opinion. He and Caleb Furst could be really, really good together, IMO, and Kaufman talked of that dynamic today almost as a plus instead of detriment to Purdue's chances, or at least something that would give him pause. We'll run the full interview Monday and the video clips whenever we get them edited.
I don't think Kaufman would be ideal on the wing in college, because you have to have guard skills at that spot nowadays and more importantly you have to be able to guard wings, but he looked much more plausible there today than he did last I saw him.
Again, full story to come ...
The budding star at McCutcheon averaged 21 points per game starting from Day 1 for the Mavericks and figures to be a pretty highly sought-after player. It's a little early for recruiting, but he said Purdue, Indiana, Butler, Xavier, Michigan State and Cincinnati are among those interested. Not sure whether there's any predisposition here for Purdue with him being a local kid, but they'll recruit him pretty seriously, I'm quite certain.
I just saw one of his two games today because of the schedule and the travel time from one event to the other, but in the game I saw he didn't make any jumpers, really, but he looked good and confident shooting them, but did impress with his speed and creativity as a scorer. For a smaller guard, he's very good at finishing at the basket and he's very good at navigating traffic, with some of the "sauce" — and I mean that in a good way — he has to his game. Looks like a future scoring combo guard to me.
Story on him to come also.
