With Purdue bringing in six freshman next season as part of one of Purdue's largest classes, Painter and company is in a strange spot. The six freshman would leave Purdue one over on scholarship count with everyone already on scholarship which includes these players returning: Braden Smith (Jr.), Fletcher Loyer (Jr.), Caleb Furst (Sr.), Trey Kaufman-Renn (Jr.), Myles Colvin, (So.) Brian Waddell (Jr.), Camden Heide (Fr.), Will Berg (So.).
That's eight scholarships, add that with the six incoming, and that's how you get to 14. The magic number is 13.
And that's all without considering the complicated nature of final COVID years for two seniors, Ethan Morton and Mason Gillis. Obviously, if either would return, that means even more over the scholarship limit. So we'll start there.
Frankly, I don't think either will be at Purdue next year. Neither has given a firm answer on their future so this isn't breaking news or a scoop but after spending the last two seasons talking to both of them, I don't exactly think this is a shot in the dark either.
Let's start with Morton. Morton expressed earlier in the year that he'd like to be here as long as they'd have me. At the time, Morton was still in the rotation, but also on the fringe. The story of his seasons at Purdue is promising starts, and then diminishing minutes as the season went on. This year was even more dramatic with Morton falling completely out of the rotation by Tournament time. There's going to be even less minutes on the wing this next season with the addition of Kanon Catchings, CJ Cox, and Gicarri Harris and the growth expected from Myles Colvin and Camden Heide. I just don't think there's minutes for Morton and he's a smart guy. It probably breaks his heart, but Purdue just doesn't have a spot on the court for him. Morton will be a coach one day, but he's also said a lot that he's done a lot of work on his body and in prep to want to play as long as he can. I think he owes it to himself to see if new scenery can give him a chance to have a reliable role on a team.
As for Mason Gillis. I don't think anyone can argue that Gillis has been one of Purdue's best pieces throughout his career. There is always room for a near 50% three-point shooter who learned to be a leader and who worked as hard as he did. But sometimes things run its course. I was talking to Gillis about his future a couple weekends ago and he said he didn't know what he wanted to do after basketball. He just knew that he wanted the freedom to do whatever it is he wanted. That, of course, means financial freedom. Gillis has been investing and was money literate in high school, getting smart about it and figuring out how to set himself up for later in life. I say that because he's about to have one last chance to make some money with his college career. If there's not a big professional basketball offer somewhere, it'd be ludicrous to think that he wouldn't try to make a priority of getting money for his COVID year in a good situation and help further set up the rest of his life. I get that NIL and some of the money stuff makes people feel icky, but the truth is, it's also a chance for these players to be responsible, to set their lives up for the next twenty, thirty, forty years. That's something we all could wish for in our early twenties. Gillis is smart enough to know that one more season in college could go an even longer way in setting up the rest of his life.
I think I'll leave this part here for now while I work through a post on how Purdue gets one less scholarship.
That's eight scholarships, add that with the six incoming, and that's how you get to 14. The magic number is 13.
And that's all without considering the complicated nature of final COVID years for two seniors, Ethan Morton and Mason Gillis. Obviously, if either would return, that means even more over the scholarship limit. So we'll start there.
Frankly, I don't think either will be at Purdue next year. Neither has given a firm answer on their future so this isn't breaking news or a scoop but after spending the last two seasons talking to both of them, I don't exactly think this is a shot in the dark either.
Let's start with Morton. Morton expressed earlier in the year that he'd like to be here as long as they'd have me. At the time, Morton was still in the rotation, but also on the fringe. The story of his seasons at Purdue is promising starts, and then diminishing minutes as the season went on. This year was even more dramatic with Morton falling completely out of the rotation by Tournament time. There's going to be even less minutes on the wing this next season with the addition of Kanon Catchings, CJ Cox, and Gicarri Harris and the growth expected from Myles Colvin and Camden Heide. I just don't think there's minutes for Morton and he's a smart guy. It probably breaks his heart, but Purdue just doesn't have a spot on the court for him. Morton will be a coach one day, but he's also said a lot that he's done a lot of work on his body and in prep to want to play as long as he can. I think he owes it to himself to see if new scenery can give him a chance to have a reliable role on a team.
As for Mason Gillis. I don't think anyone can argue that Gillis has been one of Purdue's best pieces throughout his career. There is always room for a near 50% three-point shooter who learned to be a leader and who worked as hard as he did. But sometimes things run its course. I was talking to Gillis about his future a couple weekends ago and he said he didn't know what he wanted to do after basketball. He just knew that he wanted the freedom to do whatever it is he wanted. That, of course, means financial freedom. Gillis has been investing and was money literate in high school, getting smart about it and figuring out how to set himself up for later in life. I say that because he's about to have one last chance to make some money with his college career. If there's not a big professional basketball offer somewhere, it'd be ludicrous to think that he wouldn't try to make a priority of getting money for his COVID year in a good situation and help further set up the rest of his life. I get that NIL and some of the money stuff makes people feel icky, but the truth is, it's also a chance for these players to be responsible, to set their lives up for the next twenty, thirty, forty years. That's something we all could wish for in our early twenties. Gillis is smart enough to know that one more season in college could go an even longer way in setting up the rest of his life.
I think I'll leave this part here for now while I work through a post on how Purdue gets one less scholarship.
