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Continuing our Post-July 2012 Review series ...
Vince Edwards: We only got to see two of Edwards' games at the King James tournament in Waukegan during the first evaluation period, but you don't have to see much of the 6-foot-7ish forward to get a clear picture of what he is.
Edwards isn't the biggest, strongest or most athletic player going, but he's unbelievably productive all across the board and a true Swiss Army Knife, honestly the closest thing to Robbie Hummel we've seen since the real thing, at least skills-wise. Hummel wasn't the most physically impressive guy in the world either as a 16-year-old.
Some players say they can do a lot of different things or try to do a lot of different things, but do so to their own detriment, straying from the strengths of their game just 'cuz.
Well, Edwards is the rare player who can do a lot of different things and should be doing all of them.
Watch this video.
He looks just as natural posting up down low as he does shooting the ball from long range or dribbling the ball up the court and facilitating for others. He's as likely to score one-on-one with his back to the rim as he is facing the basket in space, taking his defender off the dribble.
On defense, he rebounds and blocks shots at a reasonably high level for a guy who's built like a wing player right now. Part of that is a motor that rarely idles.
He literally does it all.
Just watch that video. It's like three or four different players rolled into one.
A deficiency is Edwards' quickness as a defender on the wing, suggesting his best fit at the next level will be at the power forward position, suggesting also his best fit at the next level might be at Purdue, where that 4 position with Hummel was built more around skill than size.
That's why Edwards is a more valuable recruit to Purdue than to just about anyone else and a recruit Purdue might be able to get without any giants coming in after him. Understand that this is a top-100 player/four-star
He appears to be tailor-made for what Purdue does.
Matt Painter wants decision-makers and shooters all over the floor, in a perfect world, and Edwards would seem ideally suited for Painter's mismatch-based line of thinking.
What's encouraging for Purdue here is that Edwards understands that. Coming from a basketball family, he's no dummy about such things. That understanding, coupled with the attention Purdue has paid him, would suggest this to be a matter of when and not if, at least barring anything crazy. Crazy happens, though.
But the attention Purdue has paid to Edwards has blown everyone out of the water.
Painter broke away from Fort Wayne and Vegas last week to see Edwards in Kansas City, way off the beaten path. Only Michigan and Dayton made the trip, each sending assistants.
Again, Edwards is a valuable recruit to any number of schools, but a coveted one for Purde.
So is Keita Bates-Diop, the other headliner of the Boilermakers' 2014 recruiting efforts.
Purdue can and will take both of them if it is so ridiculously fortunate to get both.
They are different enough and very much versatile enough to play together and could actually complement one another nicely, with Bates-Diop's length and quicker feet differing from Edwards and Edwards' motor serving as a nice counter-balance to Bates-Diop's more stoic, cerebral approach.
They are similar, but also very different in some ways.
Copyright, Boilers, Inc. 2012. All Rights Reserved. Reproducing or using editorial or graphical content, in whole or in part, without permission, is strictly prohibited. E-mail GoldandBlack.com/Boilers, Inc.[/URL]
GoldandBlack.com Mobile for your iPhone[/URL] | GoldandBlack.com Mobile for your Android[/URL]
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This post was edited on 7/31 4:12 PM by Brian_GoldandBlack.com
This post was edited on 7/31 4:12 PM by Brian_GoldandBlack.com
Continuing our Post-July 2012 Review series ...
Vince Edwards: We only got to see two of Edwards' games at the King James tournament in Waukegan during the first evaluation period, but you don't have to see much of the 6-foot-7ish forward to get a clear picture of what he is.
Edwards isn't the biggest, strongest or most athletic player going, but he's unbelievably productive all across the board and a true Swiss Army Knife, honestly the closest thing to Robbie Hummel we've seen since the real thing, at least skills-wise. Hummel wasn't the most physically impressive guy in the world either as a 16-year-old.
Some players say they can do a lot of different things or try to do a lot of different things, but do so to their own detriment, straying from the strengths of their game just 'cuz.
Well, Edwards is the rare player who can do a lot of different things and should be doing all of them.
Watch this video.
He looks just as natural posting up down low as he does shooting the ball from long range or dribbling the ball up the court and facilitating for others. He's as likely to score one-on-one with his back to the rim as he is facing the basket in space, taking his defender off the dribble.
On defense, he rebounds and blocks shots at a reasonably high level for a guy who's built like a wing player right now. Part of that is a motor that rarely idles.
He literally does it all.
Just watch that video. It's like three or four different players rolled into one.
A deficiency is Edwards' quickness as a defender on the wing, suggesting his best fit at the next level will be at the power forward position, suggesting also his best fit at the next level might be at Purdue, where that 4 position with Hummel was built more around skill than size.
That's why Edwards is a more valuable recruit to Purdue than to just about anyone else and a recruit Purdue might be able to get without any giants coming in after him. Understand that this is a top-100 player/four-star
He appears to be tailor-made for what Purdue does.
Matt Painter wants decision-makers and shooters all over the floor, in a perfect world, and Edwards would seem ideally suited for Painter's mismatch-based line of thinking.
What's encouraging for Purdue here is that Edwards understands that. Coming from a basketball family, he's no dummy about such things. That understanding, coupled with the attention Purdue has paid him, would suggest this to be a matter of when and not if, at least barring anything crazy. Crazy happens, though.
But the attention Purdue has paid to Edwards has blown everyone out of the water.
Painter broke away from Fort Wayne and Vegas last week to see Edwards in Kansas City, way off the beaten path. Only Michigan and Dayton made the trip, each sending assistants.
Again, Edwards is a valuable recruit to any number of schools, but a coveted one for Purde.
So is Keita Bates-Diop, the other headliner of the Boilermakers' 2014 recruiting efforts.
Purdue can and will take both of them if it is so ridiculously fortunate to get both.
They are different enough and very much versatile enough to play together and could actually complement one another nicely, with Bates-Diop's length and quicker feet differing from Edwards and Edwards' motor serving as a nice counter-balance to Bates-Diop's more stoic, cerebral approach.
They are similar, but also very different in some ways.
Copyright, Boilers, Inc. 2012. All Rights Reserved. Reproducing or using editorial or graphical content, in whole or in part, without permission, is strictly prohibited. E-mail GoldandBlack.com/Boilers, Inc.[/URL]
GoldandBlack.com Mobile for your iPhone[/URL] | GoldandBlack.com Mobile for your Android[/URL]
Check out GoldandBlack.com on [/URL] | [/URL] | [/URL]
[/URL]
This post was edited on 7/31 4:12 PM by Brian_GoldandBlack.com
This post was edited on 7/31 4:12 PM by Brian_GoldandBlack.com
