(Photo courtesy of Purdue)
With Purdue basketball set to officially open preseason practice on Oct. 14 — **** nay, 21st, wait no, today **** — we are keeping busy with a series making projections on each of Purdue's scholarship players, keeping in mind that we are basing such things off less than ever because of this bizarro world off-season. Please keep in mind that more in unknown — to people like us and maybe even to coaches and such — than ever before heading into a season.
Anyway, we continue today with Jaden Ivey. We will skip tomorrow and do the two redshirt freshmen Monday and Tuesday
Prior Editions: Trevion Williams | Eric Hunter | Aaron Wheeler | Sasha Stefanovic | Isaiah Thompson | Emmanuel Dowuona | Zach Edey | Ethan Morton
The point in his career
The true freshman also comes to Purdue as one of the finest guard recruits Matt Painter's signed at Purdue and a personal favorite for the coach. He will have every opportunity to be an immediate-impact player from Day 1, as will classmate Ethan Morton.
Projected role
Ivey's going to play a lot, whether it's off the bench or as a starter. The guess here is he works his way into that starting five during the course of preseason practice, but obviously that remains to be seen. He was impressive as hell this summer, to hear those around the program tell it. Ivey's one of Purdue's four ball-handling guards — Eric Hunter, Morton, Ivey and Isaiah Thompson are those four — who'll have the ball in their hands a lot when they're on the floor, and Ivey figures to be a player Purdue makes every effort to get going as a scorer. His athleticism and speed in the open floor can be important for a team that will want to play fast and his multi-faceted scoring repertoire and ability to get to the basket can boost an offense that needs a lot more bite than it had last season.
Best case scenario
The best case's ceiling is high. It might involve Ivey starting, playing veteran-type minutes, leading the Boilermakers in scoring, hanging in there defensively and Purdue winning a whole bunch of games in large part because of it.
Worst case scenario
Ivey's floor should be as high as his ceiling, because he's really talented, really gifted physically, and a smart, driven guy. If he struggles as a freshman, it won't be because of his wiring. But the worst case might be him just struggling with efficiency, making mistakes through aggressiveness, losing confidence, struggling on D, typical freshman stuff. He'll have every chance, though, to play through every mistake and when experience catches up to talent, it could be quite a combination.
Reasonable expectations
Expect Ivey to come in, play a lot and maybe be one of Purdue's top scorers. Not much reason to think he's incapable of pushing to average double-figures right away. He's gifted enough to, but every player takes to college basketball differently, so nothing's ever guaranteed in that sense. Decision-making will be really important for Ivey, but that being said, he may be that rare type who gets the Carsen Edwards treatment from the sideline, the leeway to make things happen.
