If 8/4 is better than what he is replacing, which again, it appears to be Eifert, then the easy/obvious answer is yes it is a very good pickup. At this point, there isn't a better player/option for Painter to bring in for '18. This was a pretty obvious no brainer here. Especially with all of the senior leadership going away, adding in a starter with several years of experience is a great thing (and yes, he should be a day one starter. The unknowns are if he is passed by Wheeler/Williams, but it's not to say that he couldn't start along Wheeler/Williams and kick Cline out of the starting lineup.)
You keep using their term athlete. Mo Wagner would qualify as an average athlete and he just carried his team to the championship game. I could care less about his athleticism if he can a)get it done defensively b) fit the system c) be efficient. If he is 8/4 and can defend plus maybe adds 3-4 assists a game while limiting turnovers I would say that is still very successful.
Evan has a high basketball IQ, I don't expect him fitting the system will be an issue. The question is whether he will struggle early getting the rust off. There will be plenty of tune up games before competition gets increased over the level he played at previously.
I hope he has a similar success of Howard from Butler. Same general build, athleticism, and stats. Howard lead his team to back to back championship games.
We just had a player that was loaded with athleticism in Ewing. But he couldn't see playing time and eventually was removed from the team. This argument of athleticism is silly if he can get it done. If he can't defend or rebound then yes, that will limit his play time. I don't think scoring will be an issue and with current needs he will be a wing/4 type player.
With as drawn out as these silly arguments are and how many theads cover the same thing, it will be very nice once the games start back up again. No more complaining about kids that haven't played a single minute for Purdue yet.
