Biggie was a 5 star recruit with a jump shot.. he was a special college player in that you will take the less rim protection with him for everything else he brought. TKR is a solid player but swanigan he is not
Next years starting 5
- Thread starter Bleedinggoldandblack
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He doesn't have to be. There is neither a Swanigan nor an Edey stepping into the court next season.
Seems pretty clear to Matt considers TKR a starter next season and I doubt he pairs him with anyone but an incoming one and doner recruit. Doesn't mean Berg or one of the frosh bigs don't get time.
Team would need to get much better at perimeter defense but I don't disagree with you.
Painter has done it before, I'd equate Trey at the five to Biggie at the five defensively (actually, Trey may be better on that end). Vince was a better rebounder than Cam has been to date but Cam / Trey has some similarities to Vince / Biggie.
Edit - you could sub Catchings in above for Cam if he comes in and is better suited to play the four.
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Yes, 100%. Significant tradeoffs versus have a rim protector at the 5 but MP has been successful going that route.
I wouldn't be surprised if Trey were a much bigger threat as a jump shooter next season than he has been to date. This may be sacrilege but I'm not sure that Trey as a fourth-year player can't be somewhere between what Biggie was as a freshman and Biggie's AA campaign as a sophomore.
Berg redshirted last year. I don’t recall TKR ever being in a PnR situation, but I do recall he could guard better than edey on the perimeter. If you saw the scrimmage early in the summer, TKR played the 5 and was a beast—completely different looking than when he played with edey (Zach wasn’t there as he was with the Canada team).
If you want an “elite rim protector” the only one that fits that is Jacobsen. Would be great if he’s ready to go day one, but TKR allows us to get up and down quickly, while having an ox down low who can finish. Pair that with catchings, Heide, Colvin/loyer, smith…I think it’ll be fun to watch. Like northside said though, we gotta get back to being better at perimeter defense like back in the early painter years.
I wont argue it wont be more fun to watch. It absolutely will be.
If we go that route we may as well go all offense with the starting 5 and a zone would be better with weak individual defenders. However we already know that wont happen.
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Way too much credit to the incoming Freshman. I don't see any of them starting although I could see Catchings or Harris getting some quality minutes. The rest likely redshirt.
And which one goes to Prep School and reclassifies? We are still over by one scholarship and Furst and Waddell aren't going anywhere.
1 - Smith
2 - Loyer
3 - Heide
4 - TKR
Those four are locks unless something dramatic happens.
5 - Furst or Berg at Center
6th man is Colvin
Catchings, Harris, Waddell likely rounds out your 10 man rotation unless Benter or Burgess surprise. I see Jacobson or Cox as your prep school candidate. Likely Cox since we have Harris now.
Note: Furst is the only Senior on the entire team. Nobody should leave early for the NBA either. 2025-2026 should be in theory even better than 2024-2025 where we are pre-season ranked in the range of #3 - #10 in the nation.
And which one goes to Prep School and reclassifies? We are still over by one scholarship and Furst and Waddell aren't going anywhere.
1 - Smith
2 - Loyer
3 - Heide
4 - TKR
Those four are locks unless something dramatic happens.
5 - Furst or Berg at Center
6th man is Colvin
Catchings, Harris, Waddell likely rounds out your 10 man rotation unless Benter or Burgess surprise. I see Jacobson or Cox as your prep school candidate. Likely Cox since we have Harris now.
Note: Furst is the only Senior on the entire team. Nobody should leave early for the NBA either. 2025-2026 should be in theory even better than 2024-2025 where we are pre-season ranked in the range of #3 - #10 in the nation.
That is a very conservative safe view and makes sense as those are the.players we know.
But because of it's size and reported talent level, imo if a member or members of this large freshman class don't start it will surprise me....whether it's @ year's start or year's end. If 1-2 don't I would worry about how good the class is.
Now who..... complete guess by anyone..... including me and all "experts" here.
Known...If Furst plays significant minutes, we likely have a low bar as how good we can be. Berg, don't know much about him?
Casey Bartley has reached out to the incoming freshmen and none have responded that a prep year is in the cards as it was not in the discussion/plan for their recruitment. Burgess is the only one he has not talked with since season ended. I think a couple may redshirt but it doesn’t look like any will go the prep school route. I’m not sure what the fix is for the scholarship issue but Painter doesn’t seem concerned… I’m guessing he knows something and has a plan. Can’t wait to see how it unfolds! It would be great if the NCAA increased scholarship numbers back to 15 where it used to be. One can always hope 😎
I watched a decent amount of Gicari Harris highlights over the past couple of days. He looks pretty good on offense and way above average on defense coming out of very high level high school play. Hopefully he can pick up the offensive and defensive team schemes fairly quickly to allow him to play as a combo guard at 1-3. Versatility will be an asset for us next year I believe.
Jacobsen and Cox came from prep schools. I can't imagine they would want to go back. Jacobsen reclassified so that he could leave prep school early to enroll in college. And I can't imagine Painter wanting to re-recruit them all over again, especially since their offers will certainly be significant. This is true for any of the incoming freshmen.
By most accounts Catchings is a possible one and done player, so no I don't think he rounds anything out, he's a likely starter. Furst isn't starting at Center. He barely played and his time shrank to nothing by the end of the season. Berg isn't likely to start either. It seems pretty clear Painter intends TKR to be the starting center. Catchings likely is the 4 unless he significantly underperforms expectations. Heide at 3. Smith at 1. Loyer probably starts the season at 2 regardless but could lose it if Colvin has a great summer and fall of improvement. The rest of the frosh who knows? Maybe one redshirts. None of them are going to prep school as far as the info we have now. If none of them do go to prep school then yes, someone has to leave. Furst or Waddell are really the only two possible candidates unless one of them does what apparently all of them say they aren't doing. And I don't think Painter forced the issue just to keep Furst for his last season or Waddell. Unless someone else is going to the portal unexpectedly.
We have six incoming freshmen and you think four of them redshirt? That would completely screw up future recruiting not to mention leave us with what 9 total scholarship players who can play next season? That ain't happening.
I mean if Furst is playing significant minutes that likely means Catchings, Berg and the other frosh who can play 4-5 aren't ready to give us significant minutes. That's probably not ideal.
I'm not sure that people understand that if Painter tells a kid he'll have to go to prep school, Purdue will very likely lose the commitment and the player will immediately be flooded with offers by teams who lost players to the portal. These are all really good players who would be highly coveted by top programs.
Coach Painter knows what we don’t, no one is going to prep school IMO…….possible other options discussed here in play
We will know soon
We will know soon
1) The original statement was that it means the team has ‘low bar as how good we can be’. Ridiculous statement. 2) If Caleb plays significant minutes it will be at the five and it will mean that he’s shown significant improvement 3 ) Caleb may not improve and may not play significant minutes but if you think him making that jump is not a possibility you ignore how much more opportunity he will have this coming season versus the past two years.
That’s simply not true for every player in this class. Yes, they’ll have other options but only a couple would be sought after by programs the level of Purdue. A couple may be open to the idea of prep school.
I get it. People like players. Furst has been a team player and good dude. So has Waddell. Folks want that rewarded over someone who hasn't spent a minute here. But that's not how meritocracy works. Hard work is great, but if someone is more talented, then they play over you. The walk ons work just as hard, are just as good dudes and just as loyal, but others were simply better than them so they didn't play.
It's a top ten recruiting class. Painter ain't getting rid of one of them to reward Furst or Waddell for hard work and being good dudes. Now maybe someone else is leaving or giving up a scholarship, but as of right now, those two are the likeliest candidates. That sucks, but sometimes life be that way.
But I guess we find out relatively soon. I'm kinda surprised we don't already know given the implication this was all in the works a year ago.
I mean it's his last year, and a COVID year at that. So yeah I'm skeptical that he will all of a sudden take a huge leap. Sorry, but I am. Would love to be proven wrong for his sake, but it would be a pretty rare occurrence. I mean he had the opportunity TKR had the last two seasons to be the guy either playing next to Edey or backing him up hasn't he?
Agree with everything you’re saying in that fairness and rewarding hard work have nothing to do with this decision. You realize though that this is a top recruiting class due to the top and the size, right?
If MP doesn’t think that Caleb or Brian can contribute he’ll help them find a soft landing place. If he doesn’t see it that way he’s not going to give them walking papers in favor of a couple of freshmen guards who received little to no high major interest.
I understand the skepticism and honestly could not care less how skeptical you are. I don’t mean that as a personal affront and you may be right, just that I’ll trust MP to sort it out.
Trey is likely to be an all conference player next season so 1) the failure to beat him out doesn’t seem like an indictment of Caleb and 2) Trey is a completely different type of player than Caleb, so his playing over Caleb last year didn’t necessarily make him better, just a better fit.
Having said all that, if Caleb doesn’t become a scoring option his minutes will be limited.
PS - it’s not a COVID year, this will be his fourth year
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I'm not seeing it. Painter's eye for talent got him in on some of these players that were under the radar. They are no longer under the radar, based on their championships, individual awards, and increased rankings. I can't even imagine how these kids would feel toward Painter if he told them at this late date that he doesn't have a scholarship for them after all, "so it's back to high school where we will recruit you all over again -- maybe". Bait and switch.
And again, many, many teams are losing key pieces to the portal. They would be falling all over themselves to grab one of Painter's recruits.
You may be right but you assume that MP hasn’t discussed this as a possibility originally with a Cox or Benter. Not saying he has but we don’t know.
Agree that MP is unlikely to pull a pure bait and switch , that this would be a discussion.
We do know because the folks on this website actually asked the frosh if they were going to prep school and none of them said they were.
Plus, if someone was going to prep school, you'd think that would be known by now. It's mid April. Maybe it still happens but that is pretty last minute, and it would mean someone changed their mind.
I also don't think Painter views anyone in this class as low rated projects. I mean we have three guards right now. Heide is more swing than guard. So he's absolutely going to need Harris and Cox. He loses First next year regardless and it's only TKR, Berg and these frosh. It's a six man class because we needed it to be.
Regardless, I just don't see him risking cutting loose any of them for one more year of anyone not named Edey. And yes, sending them to prep school is risking them going somewhere else
I mean but Painter tried going to Furst. It didn't really work last year and it didn't really work this fall.
Now, maybe in a revamped team based on driving, shooting and athleticism he brings something he hasn't before. But you'd think you'd see flashes of it when Edey wasn't in the floor and we really haven't.
We've been told there's a plan for this all the way back at the time of the oversign. Right?
Ok well there's only two answers: someone here loses a scholarship (transfer, NIL, what have you), someone coming in loses a scholarship (prep school, reclass, what have you).
If it's the latter, we'd know it by now. Dontcha think? But I guess we will find out eventually.
So no, I wouldn’t expect to see flashes of anything offensively when that’s not your job.
Who has told you there’s been a plan for the oversign the whole time? I’ve never heard Matt say that.
I’m surprised it hasn’t happened yet. Only thing I could think of is the player is finishing classes or doing summer classes to round out their semester or degree.
Just wrong. Players telling Casey or whoever that they’re not going to prep school in no way means it was never discussed as a possibility. I have no idea what is going to happen but your logic in convincing yourself that you do is all over the place.
Why would that prohibit an announcement? I suspect they’re still working through it and having conversations (although I’m admittedly just guessing).
I will stand corrected if I see the quote but I’ve never seen anything to the effect of them having a plan already in place. Again, you may be right, I’m just surprised I never saw it.
I mean it's all folks have talked about all season, don't worry, Painter says he knows how he's going to address this.
It's been talked about since this summer. Now maybe that answer is someone goes to prep school, but it's not been Painter's just winging it.
I didn't say it wasn't discussed as a possibility I said none of the players have said that is the plan.
My "logic" is:
1. Painter knew he was over signing.
2. Painter didn't do that without a plan. He ain't winging it, and he ain't hoping it all works out. He's said it's not an issue.
3. As of right now, none of the frosh say they are going the prep school route. Could they be forced to? I suppose. But right now, they don't seem to think so. And if that was always the plan you'd think we'd know about it.
Thus, unless 3 is not true, or 2 wasn't true then that tells me the most likely resolution involves a current player. Given the two current players we are all thinking of have only played in garbage time, it's not a stretch to think one of them is involved.
And if there was no plan. If Painter didn't know how he was going to resolve this, that would be a pretty big indictment on Painter. But there was a plan, because he's a smart dude, and he's said so.
So, it's either an incoming frosh or someone already here. And the former group so far says it ain't them.
I’m not sure that Caleb’s minutes are/would primarily be at the 5. I think he’s more comfortable and fits better at the 4 . Either way he needs to get his freshman mojo back or I’m not sure his PT will increase. I hope he figures out away to contribute and gets more time for his sake.
I completely disagree with this. TKR did play because he was better than Furst this year. Painter said as much when saying he deserved to play because of the work he put in and his improvement. He played at a position that he is less comfortable in just to get him on the floor. If Caleb were better he would have played the 4 which he more naturally fits than TKR.
I do agree Caleb needs to get his scoring mojo back in order to play increased minutes especially as the season progresses.
My money says Berg will be the odd man out. Jacobson reclassified and Painter still went after him while he was recruiting Harris. And after getting a commitment from Jacobson, Painter said he still had a scholarship left to offer Harris.
I still believe Jacobson will jump above Berg on the depth chart and may start. Berg already red shirted and really didn’t show much of anything this past year. It’s hard to believe he would elevate his game to be the starter for next year.
On a related but totally different note, I believe one of the incoming freshmen or current players may have qualified for an academic full ride scholarship! That would totally negate the need for an athletic scholarship.
I can’t believe no one else is talking about using an academic scholarship as a possibility. They are used in other sports all the time to free up an athletic scholarship. It’s also the way many D2 schools lure in players by telling them they found a scholarship for them. Purdue had 10 players on the academic all big 10. Surely one of them qualified for an academic scholarship. All most academic scholarships require is a 3.00 average. I have to believe giving a player an academic scholarship would solve the problem of having an extra scholarship.
I still believe Jacobson will jump above Berg on the depth chart and may start. Berg already red shirted and really didn’t show much of anything this past year. It’s hard to believe he would elevate his game to be the starter for next year.
On a related but totally different note, I believe one of the incoming freshmen or current players may have qualified for an academic full ride scholarship! That would totally negate the need for an athletic scholarship.
I can’t believe no one else is talking about using an academic scholarship as a possibility. They are used in other sports all the time to free up an athletic scholarship. It’s also the way many D2 schools lure in players by telling them they found a scholarship for them. Purdue had 10 players on the academic all big 10. Surely one of them qualified for an academic scholarship. All most academic scholarships require is a 3.00 average. I have to believe giving a player an academic scholarship would solve the problem of having an extra scholarship.
I mean sure, if someone got an academic scholarship that would be a third option. The issue with academic scholarships is they can be lost easier than athletic ones can.
You can lose an academic scholarship while still having a high enough GPA to be eligible. One of the ones I had I believe required a 2.5. GPA.
