Purdue lands Akron transfer Reagan Bass

[DubJellison]

Another one for the Boilers. Purdue lands Akron transfer forward Reagan Bass.

The senior is two-time All-MAC performer and averaged 16.4 points and 9.9 rebounds per game for the Zips in 2023-24.

BoilerUpload - Purdue lands Akron transfer, All-MAC forward Reagan Bass

The portal success keeps rolling for Katie Gearlds, landing Akron transfer forward Reagan Bass.

purdue.rivals.com

 

[BoilerPride08]

There is also the potential for the Boilermakers to add another post presence via the portal over the next couple of weeks.

Purdue has now added a quartet of veteran contributors to pair alongside a budding core in West Lafayette. The Boilermakers are not expected to pursue any other portal targets following the commitment of Bass.

…So which is it?

 

[DubJellison]

There is also the potential for the Boilermakers to add another post presence via the portal over the next couple of weeks.

Purdue has now added a quartet of veteran contributors to pair alongside a budding core in West Lafayette. The Boilermakers are not expected to pursue any other portal targets following the commitment of Bass.

…So which is it?

I did not update that part after Collier’s commitment, sorry for the confusion. Do not expect Purdue to add anymore players from the portal.

 

[Russ Ford]

Welcome to Purdue Reagan Bass!

Rebounding....rebounding....rebounding and maybe some low post scoring too. I think this was a crucial get for Coach Gearlds. That was my biggest concern heading to next season. Losing Terry, who was our best rebounder, and then Stevenson off an already bad rebounding was going to be ugly. I was wondering who would get a rebound. Lol.

I'm ok with the Collier commit also. Going from NAIA to the Big Ten is a big jump. But maybe we get lucky and she is up to the challenge. From her stats it seems as though she can shoot. It's a gamble....but who knows, maybe Purdue gets lucky for once.

 

[BoilerPride08]

The thing that confuses me is that we were going after Bass prior to MA leaving. So the original plan was to get post help to support MA.

MA leaves and then we get Bass to essentially replace what MA would give us (hopefully)… but then… add another wing and not another post?!? And Collier had to be a choice B or C. Because if she was Choice A, she would’ve committed 3 weeks ago. Obviously seemed like she was offered after Harris turned us down. The coaches were DETERMINED to add a 3 piece wing deal to an already bloated area of the team.

So instead of going after another post to back up Bass (let’s just call her SR MA) like the plan originally was… they just went the easy route in adding Collier and calling it a day.

Seems to be theme with this coaching staff. I don’t see us being much if any better with these additions maybe worse. More experienced? Sure.

 

[Russ Ford]

The thing that confuses me is that we were going after Bass prior to MA leaving. So the original plan was to get post help to support MA.

MA leaves and then we get Bass to essentially replace what MA would give us (hopefully)… but then… add another wing and not another post?!? And Collier had to be a choice B or C. Because if she was Choice A, she would’ve committed 3 weeks ago.

So instead of going after another post to back up Bass (let’s just call her SR MA) like the plan originally was… they just went the easy route in adding Collier and calling it a day.

Seems to be theme with this coaching staff. I don’t see us being much if any better with these additions maybe worse. More experienced? Sure.

She has to be expecting one or both of the Freshmen bigs playing early and a lot.

I remember a couple years ago. Fans were all over Coach Painter about going into the season with only a small unproven Freshman to play the point in the Big Ten. Somehow that turned out alright.

Maybe this will too....

 

[BoilerPride08]

She has to be expecting one or both of the Freshmen bigs playing early and a lot.

Look around at what our league members are adding to their post depth charts. That’s not going to be a recipe for success.

 

[DubJellison]

Welcome to Purdue Reagan Bass!

Rebounding....rebounding....rebounding and maybe some low post scoring too. I think this was a crucial get for Coach Gearlds. That was my biggest concern heading to next season. Losing Terry, who was our best rebounder, and then Stevenson off an already bad rebounding was going to be ugly. I was wondering who would get a rebound. Lol.

I'm ok with the Collier commit also. Going from NAIA to the Big Ten is a big jump. But maybe we get lucky and she is up to the challenge. From her stats it seems as though she can shoot. It's a gamble....but who knows, maybe Purdue gets lucky for once.

Adding to the Collier part. Her first two years at Marian she played off the ball and shot 49% from three on 292 attempts.

Last two years she was asked to run the offense more and garnered more attention. That number went down, to a still great 42%.

Having her off the ball with Reynolds, Poole, Jones and Lombard running things at the point should allow her to slide into that sharpshooter role, where she can maximize her skillset.

 

[BoilerPride08]

She has to be expecting one or both of the Freshmen bigs playing early and a lot.

I remember a couple years ago. Fans were all over Coach Painter about going into the season with only a small unproven Freshman to play the point in the Big Ten. Somehow that turned out alright.

Maybe this will too....

Are you talking about Smith? Where do you see a 2x National POY on our team to back them up? Very weird and rather stupid comparison.

 

[Russ Ford]

I think Purdue's only chance at staying competitive in the Big Ten is following through with her stated plan. The Painter plan. Build with high school players then use the portal sparingly.

She just needs to keep stacking classes.

 

[BoilerPride08]

Adding to the Collier part. Her first two years at Marian she played off the ball and shot 49% from three on 292 attempts.

Last two years she was asked to run the offense more and garnered more attention. That number went down, to a still great 42%.

Having her off the ball with Reynolds, Poole, Jones and Lombard running things at the point should allow her to slide into that sharpshooter role, where she can maximize her skillset.

If she can be the sharp shooter with some size that we need then great. A nice potential replacement for what Layden Sr gave us.

I’m just confused with the timing of it all. Also we have 14 players on our depth chart. No way do all of them get PT. Like 4 of them will be odd man out. So hopefully they are aware of that…. Just a strange looking roster. We are young at all the places you don’t want to be young at and old at the places where it is ok to be young.

 

[MichaelRR]

I think Purdue's only chance at staying competitive in the Big Ten is following through with her stated plan. The Painter plan. Build with high school players then use the portal sparingly.

She just needs to keep stacking classes.

Except she just added 4 portal players, 3 of them straight into the playing time of the core of guards and wings we need to get every minute they can to build on. Its idiotic, and I am not sure 2 of the 3 are even better than Smith or Monson, who left because she wanted more playing time than she was going to get here.

Bass is 6'1" and slightly built, playing her at center is not a sound option IMO. Puryear or McCarthy have to come in ready to start at this stage. This looks like a train wreck 10-12 win team depending on the schedule.

Lombard, Amiyah, Poole
Jones, Poole, Collier
Swanson, McKenna, Smith, Petree
Bass, McKenna, Mila
Puryear, McCarthy, Alaina

Do not put Jones or Smith at point, that is how we lost a big half time lead to Vermont. Neither are college level point guards.

I would only play Smith, Petree, Alaina, and Mila if we have foul trouble, injuries, or in blow outs.

 

[Russ Ford]

I think the staff has to develop a much better plan for retention now. I'm not sure if they even had one or not.....but the Stevenson loss shows it's not good enough.

 

[tomgloe]

I think Purdue's only chance at staying competitive in the Big Ten is following through with her stated plan. The Painter plan. Build with high school players then use the portal sparingly.

She just needs to keep stacking classes.

Agreed, and I think it has to be mostly midwest/indiana kids.. unless our NIL game really steps up. Those kids know the culture/enviroment, what indiana is all about. They know each other, play against or with each other in HS. I think someone brought up culture and small midwest town vibe as a negative in Stevenson's mind. The program needs to avoid kids being homesick or unimpressed with a Midwestern lifestyle.

 

[Boiler Up Time]

Except she just added 4 portal players, 3 of them straight into the playing time of the core of guards and wings we need to get every minute they can to build on. Its idiotic, and I am not sure 2 of the 3 are even better than Smith or Monson, who left because she wanted more playing time than she was going to get here.

Certainly, I don't know enough about her overall play, but I'm 100% convinced that Collier's shooting skills are heads and shoulders above S/M. I believe its been a very long time since there has been any Purdue player (men's or women's) with a 95% FT efficiency. Very, very impressive which shouldn't change much with the jump to the big leagues. In her Purdue role, hopefully she can stay above 40% from the 3 pt. range.

 

[Russ Ford]

Except she just added 4 portal players, 3 of them straight into the playing time of the core of guards and wings we need to get every minute they can to build on. Its idiotic, and I am not sure 2 of the 3 are even better than Smith or Monson, who left because she wanted more playing time than she was going to get here.

Well Michael hopefully the more she stacks good classes, the less she'll need the portal. I really consider this coming years Sophomores as her 1st class. The Freshmen coming in as her second and she has a good start on her third. Add another class or two and maybe the portal is not needed.

Just have to figure out how to keep them.

 

[BoilerPride08]

Well Michael hopefully the more she stacks good classes, the less she'll need the portal. I really consider this coming years Sophomores as her 1st class. The Freshmen coming in as her second and she has a good start on her third. Add another class or two and maybe the portal is not needed.

Just have to figure out how to keep them.

But you can’t continually sign a big 4-5 player recruiting class -hype it up all year - essentially excusing our struggles because of the “youth movement” - and then sign 4 seniors from the portal.

Commit to focusing primarily 1 or the other because either can work. Play the portal or get high school kids straight out and develop them. But doing both - equally - can cause major issues with team chemistry and coach/player trust.

Now we are looking at the “downside” of doing both. We have a lot of young/inexperienced players at important positions (point/post) AND we have 4 1 year loaner newbies that are coming in expecting to play (it’s their career swan song) but also having to keep the young kids happy with PT as they are the future.

And not to mention figuring out how we can use all of them to give us the best chance to scrap some wins out in what I’m sure will be a very grueling conference slate of games.

 

[Russ Ford]

I doubt Coach Gearlds made any promises about playing time to the new players.

I'm only expecting big minutes from two of them. If Bass is anything like her numbers suggest I think she will start. I think Lombard will play because she is a plus defender that can score a little.

I think Collier & Petree are more of a gamble and will probably end up being depth pieces. But I don't see the harm....the scholarships were open. Why not take a gamble on someone? Collier's numbers suggest she can really shoot. Maybe she'll be a player or maybe she won't. They'll be gone after this season....it shouldn't affect recruiting future high school classes.

In the end....Coach Gearlds is doing what she thinks is best. It's her job that's on the line. I'm sure she realizes another losing season next year and her seat will start to get hot.

 

[MichaelRR]

I doubt Coach Gearlds made any promises about playing time to the new players.

I'm only expecting big minutes from two of them. If Bass is anything like her numbers suggest I think she will start. I think Lombard will play because she is a plus defender that can score a little.

I think Collier & Petree are more of a gamble and will probably end up being depth pieces. But I don't see the harm....the scholarships were open. Why not take a gamble on someone? Collier's numbers suggest she can really shoot. Maybe she'll be a player or maybe she won't. They'll be gone after this season....it shouldn't affect recruiting future high school classes.

In the end....Coach Gearlds is doing what she thinks is best. It's her job that's on the line. I'm sure she realizes another losing season next year and her seat will start to get hot.

IF the four transfers don't play, there will be major locker room issues to deal with. If they do, expect 1-3 of the underclass guards to portal out next spring.

And her seat will remain ice cold. If Bobinski cared even a tiny bit about women's basketball at Purdue he would not have hired Gearlds in the first place. As long as she doesn't end up at the bottom of the Big Ten every year, she is safe until we get a new AD.

 

[purduedavie]

IF the four transfers don't play, there will be major locker room issues to deal with. If they do, expect 1-3 of the underclass guards ro portal out next spring.

I doubt in Colliers case though, otherwise I’d agree. Collier has to be happy getting an extra year of college at the D-1 level, hopefully, she’s a speciality player that hits open shots. Bass was a must get, team to me looks like a middle/lower level Big 10 team, hope I’m wrong.

 

[MichaelRR]

I doubt in Colliers case though, otherwise I’d agree. Collier has to be happy getting an extra year of college at the D-1 level, hopefully, she’s a speciality player that hits open shots. Bass was a must get, team to me looks like a middle/lower level Big 10 team, hope I’m wrong.

To me it looks like a team fighting with Rutgers and Northwestern for the bottom again....... At what position do you feel we have a single player that would start for the top 9 teams in the conference? Bueler? Bueler? Bueler? Swanson might be our best player, and she wasn't good enough to start for a 15-19 team last year......

Also, judging by Gearlds past coaching and misplaced loyalty to "her" players, Collier will play lots, whether she deserves it (cough cough Hardin) or not.

 

[HoopDad317]

I think Purdue's only chance at staying competitive in the Big Ten is following through with her stated plan. The Painter plan. Build with high school players then use the portal sparingly.

She just needs to keep stacking classes.

Stacking classes is fine…. But with elite/Big Ten talent. Disappointing that CKG is showing she can recruit NAIA and mid major type players. That’s obviously where she is most confident. Stacking players who were successful in the NAIA is of no comparison. If they’ve played in the Big Ten, then a different story. Harris backtracking as a proven Big Ten player exemplified that we just can’t seem to attract/retain elite level players. Guess these two recruits will just join in with some others who shouldn’t be playing in the Big Ten.

 

[tomgloe]

Stacking classes is fine…. But with elite/Big Ten talent. Disappointing that CKG is showing she can recruit NAIA and mid major type players. That’s obviously where she is most confident. Stacking players who were successful in the NAIA is of no comparison. If they’ve played in the Big Ten, then a different story. Harris backtracking as a proven Big Ten player exemplified that we just can’t seem to attract/retain elite level players. Guess these two recruits will just join in with some others who shouldn’t be playing in the Big Ten.

Harris was more of a "oh crap, I should of noticed how many guards Purdue has" compared to CKG not being able to land talent like her. She supposedly committed 20 minutes into the visit before realizing how many guards we had.

CKG has proven to recruit top 100 players from the state. So as long as she can continue to do that, develop them, and retain them, the program should get back to competing as a top 25 program.

 

[MichaelRR]

Harris was more of a "oh crap, I should of noticed how many guards Purdue has" compared to CKG not being able to land talent like her. She supposedly committed 20 minutes into the visit before realizing how many guards we had.

CKG has proven to recruit top 100 players from the state. So as long as she can do that, develop them, and retain them, the program should get back to competing as a top 25 program.

So far, she has only shown the ability to complete one of those three tasks.............. And if we are losing players to NIL, there is no chance in heaven or hell we move up to top 5 in conference, let alone top 25 in the nation.