Note: To look back on summer workouts and ahead to fall practice, GoldandBlack.com is taking a player-by-play look at the Purdue basketball team's 10 scholarship players this week. We're going in alphabetical order. Up: Vince Edwards
Purdue will need a lot from its freshman class as a whole, but it might need a lot from Vince Edwards.
When you're a player with the skill set to contribute in as many ways as Edwards may, that's the deal.
Purdue recruited the versatile forward with its matchup-oriented template in mind, since Edwards has size, ruggedness and tenacity enough to compete physically at the "power" forward position, but also skill enough to shoot jumpers effectively, pass and play a leading role as ball-handler, enough tools to give opposing 4 men real problems, potentially.
It's not going to be easy from Day 1 obviously, but if Edwards can bring that dimension to this Boilermaker roster, on paper, that could be a boon for a program that needs to get back to moving and sharing the ball, for its players to make those around them better.
Edwards has always shown a strong mind for basketball and has never shown anything beside unselfishness as a player, even while the unquestioned superstar, reltively speaking, of his high school and past AAU teams (prior to spending his senior summer with loaded All-Ohio Red).
Though Edwards isn't the biggest frontcourt presence or strongest at this point, he's always been a very productive rebounder, and Purdue expects him to be in college as well. No promises there, because the Big Ten is going to be an entirely new level.
Edwards is going to compete to be a starter at the 4 - he and athletic sophomore Basil Smotherman could complement each other well - and is probably one of the two or three of the five freshmen that I think we can credibly say that about at this point in August.
For that to materialize, he'll obviously need to understand what he's doing. He'll have much to learn, as any freshmen would.
That goes without saying. But from a basketball perspective, he has to pass - move the ball around and dump the ball into A.J. Hammons whenever the opportunity aside - and be physical on the boards and on defense. He's one of the numerous players on this roster a zone look might benefit in some ways, but there's still little compelling reason to expect that at this point to be a huge portion of what Purdue does. He's not the quickest fellow.
Something else about Edwards: Purdue's point guard role might be decentralized some now, with a few different players likely to be part of a platoon. Maybe the 6-foot-7 Edwards' ability to bring the ball up and see over defenses can be useful. There were games in high school where he was flat-out his team's point guard. That was high school, though. Still, those skills might translate to some extent at Purdue, maybe right away.
Anyway, no promises here: But of all Purdue's freshmen, Edwards may be the one with the greatest chance to impact the Boilermakers most.
Purdue will need a lot from its freshman class as a whole, but it might need a lot from Vince Edwards.
When you're a player with the skill set to contribute in as many ways as Edwards may, that's the deal.
Purdue recruited the versatile forward with its matchup-oriented template in mind, since Edwards has size, ruggedness and tenacity enough to compete physically at the "power" forward position, but also skill enough to shoot jumpers effectively, pass and play a leading role as ball-handler, enough tools to give opposing 4 men real problems, potentially.
It's not going to be easy from Day 1 obviously, but if Edwards can bring that dimension to this Boilermaker roster, on paper, that could be a boon for a program that needs to get back to moving and sharing the ball, for its players to make those around them better.
Edwards has always shown a strong mind for basketball and has never shown anything beside unselfishness as a player, even while the unquestioned superstar, reltively speaking, of his high school and past AAU teams (prior to spending his senior summer with loaded All-Ohio Red).
Though Edwards isn't the biggest frontcourt presence or strongest at this point, he's always been a very productive rebounder, and Purdue expects him to be in college as well. No promises there, because the Big Ten is going to be an entirely new level.
Edwards is going to compete to be a starter at the 4 - he and athletic sophomore Basil Smotherman could complement each other well - and is probably one of the two or three of the five freshmen that I think we can credibly say that about at this point in August.
For that to materialize, he'll obviously need to understand what he's doing. He'll have much to learn, as any freshmen would.
That goes without saying. But from a basketball perspective, he has to pass - move the ball around and dump the ball into A.J. Hammons whenever the opportunity aside - and be physical on the boards and on defense. He's one of the numerous players on this roster a zone look might benefit in some ways, but there's still little compelling reason to expect that at this point to be a huge portion of what Purdue does. He's not the quickest fellow.
Something else about Edwards: Purdue's point guard role might be decentralized some now, with a few different players likely to be part of a platoon. Maybe the 6-foot-7 Edwards' ability to bring the ball up and see over defenses can be useful. There were games in high school where he was flat-out his team's point guard. That was high school, though. Still, those skills might translate to some extent at Purdue, maybe right away.
Anyway, no promises here: But of all Purdue's freshmen, Edwards may be the one with the greatest chance to impact the Boilermakers most.
