Sasha Stefanovic, to me, was a no-brainer for Purdue.
Not because he's that can't-miss prospect or any sort of certainty at the next level, but because he fits. He fits ideally.
He's a very good shooter, a very good shooter, but also just a good basketball player, a smart basketball player and from what I've seen a tough basketball player, typical of Northwest Indiana, which often produces Chicago-type toughness without Chicago-type crazy. Something about those Region kids, usually.
And this: There is absolutely, positively value in having players in your program for which Purdue is the mountaintop, players who want Purdue as much, if not more, than Purdue wants them.
When they're good enough, you have to get players like that. Purdue's won a bunch of games with Chris Kramers, Rapheal Davis' and P.J. Thompsons, players for which it's meant something to them to play for Purdue, who came to Purdue to play for something bigger than themselves.
You can't put a star rating on investment, and that shouldn't be an issue for players like Stefanovic, who grew up a Purdue fan, saw his brother go to Purdue, and wanted Purdue so badly that he bet on himself this fall and won. He could have secured his spot at a high-level mid-major and probably been a star at that level. Years ago, when Ryne Smith committed to Purdue, one coach described him as a "first-team All-MAC" player who'd be a hell of a role player at Purdue. That coach was dead on, except for the fact that Smith became more than just a role player for Purdue.
If you can look at recruiting from a team-building perspective, this was an easy decision. If you look at it from a national-profile perspective, you might have some questions, but I will point out that Stefanovic held more than 20 offers from various levels, which was about 17 more than Ryan Cline had when he committed to the Boilermakers, and that's turned out well.
Not sure what Purdue will need from Stefanovic in the short term, with Dakota Mathias and Cline back next season as a senior and junior, respectively. He'd seem like a prime redshirt candidate. Now I'll remind you that I - and a lot of other people, Matt Painter included - thought the same of Cline last summer.
Purdue's class is not complete. It will sign a big man, whoever it may be. But Stefanovic completes Purdue's class. Painter's emphasis on recruiting a shooter in every class has yielded one of the best three-point-shooting teams in the country currently. And in this large 2017 class, Purdue did not have a pure shooter. Now it does. I think that was important, because Purdue is bringing in a wealth of athleticism and needed some skill to complement it. In years past, Purdue's roster has ping-ponged between extremes - athleticism without skill, skill without athleticism. This is a protective measure against overcorrection.
We'll see how it turns out, but this just makes a hell of a lot of sense.
Not because he's that can't-miss prospect or any sort of certainty at the next level, but because he fits. He fits ideally.
He's a very good shooter, a very good shooter, but also just a good basketball player, a smart basketball player and from what I've seen a tough basketball player, typical of Northwest Indiana, which often produces Chicago-type toughness without Chicago-type crazy. Something about those Region kids, usually.
And this: There is absolutely, positively value in having players in your program for which Purdue is the mountaintop, players who want Purdue as much, if not more, than Purdue wants them.
When they're good enough, you have to get players like that. Purdue's won a bunch of games with Chris Kramers, Rapheal Davis' and P.J. Thompsons, players for which it's meant something to them to play for Purdue, who came to Purdue to play for something bigger than themselves.
You can't put a star rating on investment, and that shouldn't be an issue for players like Stefanovic, who grew up a Purdue fan, saw his brother go to Purdue, and wanted Purdue so badly that he bet on himself this fall and won. He could have secured his spot at a high-level mid-major and probably been a star at that level. Years ago, when Ryne Smith committed to Purdue, one coach described him as a "first-team All-MAC" player who'd be a hell of a role player at Purdue. That coach was dead on, except for the fact that Smith became more than just a role player for Purdue.
If you can look at recruiting from a team-building perspective, this was an easy decision. If you look at it from a national-profile perspective, you might have some questions, but I will point out that Stefanovic held more than 20 offers from various levels, which was about 17 more than Ryan Cline had when he committed to the Boilermakers, and that's turned out well.
Not sure what Purdue will need from Stefanovic in the short term, with Dakota Mathias and Cline back next season as a senior and junior, respectively. He'd seem like a prime redshirt candidate. Now I'll remind you that I - and a lot of other people, Matt Painter included - thought the same of Cline last summer.
Purdue's class is not complete. It will sign a big man, whoever it may be. But Stefanovic completes Purdue's class. Painter's emphasis on recruiting a shooter in every class has yielded one of the best three-point-shooting teams in the country currently. And in this large 2017 class, Purdue did not have a pure shooter. Now it does. I think that was important, because Purdue is bringing in a wealth of athleticism and needed some skill to complement it. In years past, Purdue's roster has ping-ponged between extremes - athleticism without skill, skill without athleticism. This is a protective measure against overcorrection.
We'll see how it turns out, but this just makes a hell of a lot of sense.
