Andreona Keys estimates she’ll have about 60 friends and family members at Thursday night’s game at Georgia Tech.
It’s a homecoming, not only for her — Keys’ house is about a half-hour from Georgia Tech’s Atlanta campus — but for fellow Georgia natives Dominique Oden, Miracle Gray and associate head coach Nadine Morgan.
“I’m really excited,” Keys said Wednesday, just before Purdue boarded a flight for its Big Ten/ACC Challenge game. “A bunch of my family and friends are coming. I haven’t been home since I left home after high school, just to be able to play like 25 or 30 minutes away from my house, it’s really exciting to go play in front of my family and friends.”
The game feels like a long time coming. During Keys’ three-plus-year career, Purdue’s rarely played near her home, the closest being preseason tournament in Florida a couple years ago. Coach Sharon Versyp says she’s tried to schedule a Georgia program, but “nobody will play us, so if nobody will play us, it’s hard to take people home.”
But Purdue pushed for — and got — the GT matchup in the Challenge, giving Keys, along with the other Boilermakers, a chance to return home.
“The coaches were trying to get a game in Georgia for me to play,” the Atlanta native said. “So I was looking at the (early non-conference) schedule and thought, ‘Wait, we don’t have …’ but then to get the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, where you find out you’re playing Georgia Tech and also at Georgia Tech, for that to come together like that, it’s pretty cool.”
Oden, too, says she’ll have a bunch of fans in the stands, including family, friends, her Marist High School teammates and others. She’s anticipated the date since the game was announced.
“Not necessarily the game, but the trip,” Oden said. “Because I knew I was going to get to go home, play in front of my friends and family. It’s more of that and not necessarily about playing Georgia Tech.”
Over the years, Purdue has built a strong foothold in Georgia, thanks much to Morgan, who was a two-time all-state selection at Stone Mountain High School, the same school where Gray, her younger sister, later starred.
Those ties helped Purdue bring in Drey Mingo and Antoinette Howard several years ago and Keys, Oden and Gray, along with others, more recently.
“People know Nadine and who she is,” Versyp said. “And we’ve been working together for 14 years now, so we can go in there together. But she’s established those relations and now I’ve built those relationships just as strong as she has. … But Nadine is fantastic in that area, she continues to build her contacts and people just love and trust her.”
Now, Purdue will get to play a game there. And it might have a feel of a home game, considering the number of fans the Boilermakers will have in the stands.
“I’ve got a lot of tickets that I have to get from teammates,” Keys said. “But I’ve had a lot of friends and family saying, ‘We’re definitely coming,’ and it’s people I haven’t seen in a long time too, so it’s exciting.”
Staying away
Thursday’s matchup with Georgia Tech (6-1) will be Purdue’s fifth consecutive away from Mackey Arena, after the Boilermakers were 2-2 in their Western swing.
There, they lost at Utah, before heading to a holiday tournament in Hawaii. After losing to USC in the opener, Purdue beat Hawaii and Marist. They’d like to keep that up.
“Just keeping our momentum and build on it,” Keys said. “After this, we have a bunch of home games (six) before break. (We need to) make sure we get those and win the games we’re supposed to win.”
On Tech
The Yellow Jackets, coached by former Purdue All-American MaChelle Joseph, are off to a good start, with six wins in their first seven games. The only loss was their last game, a 80-57 defeat against No. 9 Baylor.
But Joseph has a deep and balanced group that will present Purdue (5-2) with challenges.
“They try to make you turn the ball over, pressing you the entire time,” Versyp said. “Offensive rebounds is where they kill you and they get to the foul line. You’ve got to take care of the basketball; you’ve got to be able to box out. They’re going to get some offensive rebounds, but you’ve got to do a good job of that, but you’ve got to force them to shoot outside shots. We’re going to have to play well.”
The Boilermakers, who are playing undersized, face a GT team that has three starters taller than 6-foot, so keeping the Jackets off the glasses and out of the paint is a point of emphasis.
“They’re very athletic and thrive off of their post play,” said Keys, a 5-foot-10 wing who is playing the 4 spot for Purdue. “They have some big-bodied post players who will try to get you deep and that was our main focus today in practice.”
