Purdue Swinging for Fences in 2017
Where they are: Coach Matt Painter and his staff only have 10 players currently on scholarship, but it’s a team that is more than capable of making a run at the Big Ten title. Painter feels as though he has a trio of all-league caliber players in Vince Edwards, Caleb Swanigan and Isaac Haas. There are three players who will fight for minutes at point guard: Holdover P.J. Thompson, Michigan grad transfer Spike Albrecht and freshman Carsen Edwards -- who is more of a scorer than a floor leader at this point. The Boilermakers also have Basil Smotherman, who started plenty of games as a freshman and sophomore, back after he sat out last season. And they also return a pair of experienced wings in Dakota Mathias and Ryan Cline. The losses of A.J. Hammons and Rapheal Davis will certainly hurt, and the defense may take a step back this season, but the offense should be improved, especially with the addition of Albrecht and Edwards.
Where they’re going: Purdue will only lose one senior after next season, and that’s Albrecht, who hasn’t played a minute for the Boilermakers yet. However, Painter has three open scholarships -- unless he gets someone at the 11th hour such as Kostas Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis’ brother) -- that he will look to fill in the Class of 2017. Painter is also preparing to lose at least one player early to the NBA draft. This past offseason, both Swanigan and Edwards tested the NBA Draft process before deciding to return to West Lafayette. They are both early entry candidates again as is Haas. That means Painter will look to hand out five scholarships in the class, and the staff is looking for a little bit of everything. Big men will be a priority with the potential of losing Swanigan, Haas and Edwards. But the Boilermakers will also look for another point guard and a two-guard.
Top targets: Most of the Boilermakers' targets reside in the ESPN 100: There are guards such as Nojel Eastern (No. 74) and Jordan Goodwin (No 54), wing Kris Wilk es (No. 11) and numerous big men: in-state prospects like Jaren Jackson (No. 25) and Malik Williams (No. 42), along with Xavier Tillman (No. 69), Kyle Young (No. 86) and Derek Culver (No. 79). Purdue is also looking at unranked wing Savion Flagg from Alvin, Texas.
Where they are: Coach Matt Painter and his staff only have 10 players currently on scholarship, but it’s a team that is more than capable of making a run at the Big Ten title. Painter feels as though he has a trio of all-league caliber players in Vince Edwards, Caleb Swanigan and Isaac Haas. There are three players who will fight for minutes at point guard: Holdover P.J. Thompson, Michigan grad transfer Spike Albrecht and freshman Carsen Edwards -- who is more of a scorer than a floor leader at this point. The Boilermakers also have Basil Smotherman, who started plenty of games as a freshman and sophomore, back after he sat out last season. And they also return a pair of experienced wings in Dakota Mathias and Ryan Cline. The losses of A.J. Hammons and Rapheal Davis will certainly hurt, and the defense may take a step back this season, but the offense should be improved, especially with the addition of Albrecht and Edwards.
Where they’re going: Purdue will only lose one senior after next season, and that’s Albrecht, who hasn’t played a minute for the Boilermakers yet. However, Painter has three open scholarships -- unless he gets someone at the 11th hour such as Kostas Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis’ brother) -- that he will look to fill in the Class of 2017. Painter is also preparing to lose at least one player early to the NBA draft. This past offseason, both Swanigan and Edwards tested the NBA Draft process before deciding to return to West Lafayette. They are both early entry candidates again as is Haas. That means Painter will look to hand out five scholarships in the class, and the staff is looking for a little bit of everything. Big men will be a priority with the potential of losing Swanigan, Haas and Edwards. But the Boilermakers will also look for another point guard and a two-guard.
Top targets: Most of the Boilermakers' targets reside in the ESPN 100: There are guards such as Nojel Eastern (No. 74) and Jordan Goodwin (No 54), wing Kris Wilk es (No. 11) and numerous big men: in-state prospects like Jaren Jackson (No. 25) and Malik Williams (No. 42), along with Xavier Tillman (No. 69), Kyle Young (No. 86) and Derek Culver (No. 79). Purdue is also looking at unranked wing Savion Flagg from Alvin, Texas.
