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As you know, Xavier is out for Xavier Simpson, a big deal for Purdue and anyone else's chances for the Ohio guard. We have reason to believe that is in fact where he would have gone had the Musketeers not taken Quentin Goodin's commitment first.
Everyone else has a chance now, and the remainder of the field is headlined by Purdue, Iowa State, Illinois and maybe Iowa. Simpson said late last month he was open still to schools that had not yet offered to that point, but we don't know if places like Pitt, UNLV or Miami (Fla.) - each of which have now offered - would have the cache to get a real look at this point or whether Indiana, which offered last night, can gain traction here. Obviously when we asked Simpson in Louisville if he was open to schools who hadn't yet offered, we were asking about Michigan State without saying the words 'Michigan State.'
But while that door might still be open, at this stage of the process, the Spartans have done nothing to suggest they'll step through it, and the point of no return with the kid himself may be nearing if it's not already passed.
Simpson would be a great fit for Purdue, particularly in light of the apparent improvements he has made this summer. He's a better player now than he was in the spring.
All things being as they seem now, we would think Purdue will have a strong shot at Simpson, who will likely officially visit West Lafayette next weekend. Purdue will have to do well with him on the visit, though.
Simpson wants to play right away wherever he goes and Matt Painter and staff will have to convince him the opportunity at Purdue to do that is a golden one. They wouldn't be BS'ing him.
Simpson is not Purdue's only option at the 1.
Purdue has already had Texas' Carsen Edwards in for an official visit, as you know. He has other visits to come, so Purdue would have to weather that with him, but Vanderbilt should now be out after they just picked up a commitment.
Te'Jon Lucas is officially visiting the final weekend of the month, ideally for Purdue the weekend after Simpson.
There wouldn't be much reason to expect Lucas to be a quick-commitment possibility, but if that somehow became the case, would Purdue take him before Simpson has decided? The guess here is yes, but that is a decision that guy who gets paid $2 million per year to make such decisions has to make.
Really, the rescheduling of Simpson's official visit could line up well for Purdue, because it will come after the ISU visit - and remember that in July, Quincey Simpson suggested those would be the only two officials Xavier Simpson might need, though we'll now see about Illinois and some of these newer entries - and the weekend before another point guard target with a committable offer visits.
Purdue is not going to squeeze Simpson - that wouldn't seem like a great idea, Purdue may not have the leverage to do so and that should be a last resort anyway for fear of getting a relationship off on the wrong foot - but the situation will be what it is, and the Xavier experience could still be fresh in mind.
This is all speculative.
If Purdue hasn't landed a point guard by the fall, it has Maryland's Alani Moore - ranked No. 143 nationally by Rivals.com and holding offers from Temple, Seton Hall and others - penciled into the calendar for a September official visit. Purdue got in on him in July and seems to have gained enough traction already to have a commitment from him to visit. Moore does not have a Purdue offer, at least not yet.
And we'll remind you again that Purdue has laid the groundwork to recruit junior college player Ronnie Stacy, who would seem poised to be highly recruited.
The moral of the story here is that Purdue would seem to have rock-solid options for the most important position need of its recruiting year. (BN)
In a hilarious 'Three's Company' sort of mix-up Wednesday, we checked in with him to make sure he was still committed to Purdue, only because someone of the board asked about him.
Hill said he still speaks to Purdue assistant coach Taver Johnson and said he is going to take an official visit to West Lafayette, maybe over the Bowling Green weekend of Sept. 26.
He never said he was committed to Purdue, never said he wasn't.
Then we discovered the article on Twitter about him switching to Tulane, which would seem like a strange move. Last month, a good source close to Hill didn't close the door on him switching to someone else eventually but figured it would take an SEC-type offer late in the process to flip him.
Not Tulane in August.
(Note: Hill has not replied to direct questions about his Purdue commitment and Atlanta Carver coach Darren Myles - an alumnus - has not yet returned a message.)
Strange, and disappointing for Purdue, which seemed to steal one here early at a really important position in its 2016 recruiting picture.
The Boilermakers may still be alive in Hill's recruitment based on him talking about taking an official visit, but this is clearly going to be a high-maintenance situation and those don't often turn out well for the first school to land the commitment.
Such is life oftentimes, however, when players commit early to places before they've ever A) visited the place they're committing to and B) found out who all their early offers are even going to be.
We'll continue following up with Hill. (BN)
Spoke with two different coaches this summer - both of them know Purdue well and one of them's team is on the schedule this year - and they both wondered how Matt Painter is going to operate this season philosophically on offense, whether he'll keep to his M.O. of running his program's free-flowing, democratic motion offense or incorporate more set offense. Purdue runs sets as is, but a limited number. With its matchup advantages plentiful in the post; with a pair of forwards who can really pass; and with a few shooters who offense can reasonably be run for now and again, that question does hold water.
We can go into a ton of minutia about who's best suited for what, who can do what and what might work well with this group, but we'll see.
Painter's not going to abandon motion, obviously, and that is not what we're intimating at here. Just wondering aloud if he'll incorporate more stuff to kind of lean on a certain guy here and here.
When the stuff used to hit the fan when JaJuan Johnson, E'Twaun Moore and Robbie Hummel played, the offense often turned into Moore and Johnson playing pick-and-roll and Hummel shooting out to the top to stretch the defense.
It should be noted that those teams were killers in their motion execution, so the need to do anything different just wasn't there.
Maybe Painter tweaks things.
From someone who knows Purdue basketball very well: "It'll be interesting to see what Coach does."
Another thing to make note of: A.J. Hammons has prioritized working on his jump shot and he has looked the part of a legitimate pick-and-pop threat in what we've seen since the end of last season. Hell, he made shots last season.
Purdue does not have a tailor-made ball-screen point guard, but Hammons' potential to set a screen - provided he can do it without fouling - then either step out for a shot or dive to the rim for a potential dunk or foul could be an enticing potential utilization for him.
Isaac Haas and Caleb Swanigan wouldn't seem to have the same potential as dive men, but Hammons looks skilled and athletic enough to do it right now.
We're just rambling at this point now.
The point: It will be interesting to see what Purdue does offensively this season. (BN)
