We've written a lot of these transfer "eulogies" the last few years, but this was one we have wondered about whether we'd need to have ready to go for quite some time.
Let me say this: I personally hope very much that wherever Bryson Scott lands, he finds success. You don't run across many people who want it as badly as he does, who are as confident in their own abilities as he is and has always been.
But that sort of singularly focused mind and uncommon intensity and unwavering confidence - the crux of his high school coach once putting it best when he said, "His blessing is his curse" - was always going to go one of two ways at Purdue. It was either going to make him really good or lead to
well, this.
As time went on this season, it became increasingly clear this might go down the latter road.
Scott came into this season supremely confident and had some reason to be. The point guard position was wide open for his taking and he felt like his off-season, and the lessons learned last season, had set him up nicely.
Then Jon Octeus showed up, as we called it at the time, "the first great test of Purdue's newfound chemistry."
From the outside looking in, it looked like Scott handled that as well as could have been expected. To his credit, there was never any reason to think his attitude went sideways or he became a problem behind closed doors, but understand that we don't have access behind those closed doors, so take it for what it's worth.
Scott did get his chances, though, but the same issues persisted.
He pressed, playing the way he's always played, that intensity and that eagerness to do something - anything - at all times undermining his ability to make basic plays and follow critical assignments.
Coaches play guys they can trust and Scott was never able to fully grasp, and more importantly keep, Matt Painter's trust, it seemed like.
It's ironic, because no one wanted to impress Painter more than Scott, to the point where the head coach's mere presence in a gym sometimes would affect the way he played, making him too eager to do something, anything.
Never seen anything like it.
What's hard to understand is that the player seemed to grasp these things, but the issues lied in the execution of the concepts, not always the concepts themselves.
There were flashes.
Scott will long be remembered at Purdue probably for his game against Indiana in Mackey Arena this year, in which he came from literally out of nowhere and gave the Boilermakers the spark they needed to rout IU, which was a huge win for them at the time.
He was emotional afterward, looking like the proverbial weight of the world had just come off his shoulders. You thought at the time maybe this was a turning point for him, but even in that game, his indiscretions were visible, just irrelevant, and you had to think then that the chances were just as good that he'd slide backward again.
That's exactly what happened, unfortunately, leading ultimately to Monday's not-so-surprising news.
This season had to be agony for Scott, who's never struggled before - ever - in his basketball career prior to Purdue and had to do so this season while his brother, Brenton, was Missouri Valley Freshman-of-the-Year and his close friend, James Blackmon, Jr., was thriving at Indiana. It was what you might call a bitter pill.
Monday's news was disappointing for all parties, but looking back, maybe not altogether surprising.
Purdue chased talent and demeanor with Scott and was right to. In some ways, he could have been a great fit. But the role he was recruited for was not a fit for his strengths.
An up-and-down, wide-open offensive team that would happily trade four turnovers a game for 16 points and six assists and a certain helter-skelter mentality from its lead guard would have fit better, at whatever level such a fit could have been found.
One thing I will never understand is that when recruits and their inner circles make decisions, do they watch enough basketball? Ronnie Johnson never should have been surprised that Purdue wasn't thrilled about him donning blinders, then over-dribbling his way into low-percentage drives.
Scott might have recognized that the frenetic pace he's always played at and the total free reign he's always had wouldn't be in place at Purdue.
I'll stop there instead of continuing this 48-hour referendum on the point guard position at Purdue.
I'll just say this: It's a shame this didn't work for both parties, but not a shock that it didn't.
Here's hoping Scott finds a place where he fits better, because he can be good and sure as hell wants to be.
As for Purdue, it simply has to get this point guard thing figured out. If you count C.J. Walker's decommitment this weekend, this is now three point guards in the span of roughly 12 months who have broken up with the program over style-of-play matters. In some cases, Purdue has been or will be better off but the fact remains there has been too much instability at the crucial position lately and as of this moment there is a void to fill on what could be an outstanding team next season.
Scott's departure, people will say, hurts Purdue's 2015-16 team.
But how can you say that when he did not play a prominent role this season?
Is it conceivable that it all could have come together between his way and Purdue's this off-season? Of course, theoretically, but considering that to be a known commodity would be an awful dicey proposition.
Aside from P.J. Thompson and Grant Weatherford, a pair of underclassmen not exactly ideally suited at their young age to be 30-minute Big Ten point guards, Purdue is short on options.
We don't know who's going to play point guard for the Boilermakers next season.
We just know it won't be Bryson Scott.
We may already have known that, though.
Copyright, Boilers, Inc. 2015. 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.
Let me say this: I personally hope very much that wherever Bryson Scott lands, he finds success. You don't run across many people who want it as badly as he does, who are as confident in their own abilities as he is and has always been.
As time went on this season, it became increasingly clear this might go down the latter road.
Scott came into this season supremely confident and had some reason to be. The point guard position was wide open for his taking and he felt like his off-season, and the lessons learned last season, had set him up nicely.
Then Jon Octeus showed up, as we called it at the time, "the first great test of Purdue's newfound chemistry."
From the outside looking in, it looked like Scott handled that as well as could have been expected. To his credit, there was never any reason to think his attitude went sideways or he became a problem behind closed doors, but understand that we don't have access behind those closed doors, so take it for what it's worth.
Scott did get his chances, though, but the same issues persisted.
He pressed, playing the way he's always played, that intensity and that eagerness to do something - anything - at all times undermining his ability to make basic plays and follow critical assignments.
Coaches play guys they can trust and Scott was never able to fully grasp, and more importantly keep, Matt Painter's trust, it seemed like.
It's ironic, because no one wanted to impress Painter more than Scott, to the point where the head coach's mere presence in a gym sometimes would affect the way he played, making him too eager to do something, anything.
Never seen anything like it.
What's hard to understand is that the player seemed to grasp these things, but the issues lied in the execution of the concepts, not always the concepts themselves.
There were flashes.
Scott will long be remembered at Purdue probably for his game against Indiana in Mackey Arena this year, in which he came from literally out of nowhere and gave the Boilermakers the spark they needed to rout IU, which was a huge win for them at the time.
He was emotional afterward, looking like the proverbial weight of the world had just come off his shoulders. You thought at the time maybe this was a turning point for him, but even in that game, his indiscretions were visible, just irrelevant, and you had to think then that the chances were just as good that he'd slide backward again.
That's exactly what happened, unfortunately, leading ultimately to Monday's not-so-surprising news.
This season had to be agony for Scott, who's never struggled before - ever - in his basketball career prior to Purdue and had to do so this season while his brother, Brenton, was Missouri Valley Freshman-of-the-Year and his close friend, James Blackmon, Jr., was thriving at Indiana. It was what you might call a bitter pill.
Monday's news was disappointing for all parties, but looking back, maybe not altogether surprising.
Purdue chased talent and demeanor with Scott and was right to. In some ways, he could have been a great fit. But the role he was recruited for was not a fit for his strengths.
An up-and-down, wide-open offensive team that would happily trade four turnovers a game for 16 points and six assists and a certain helter-skelter mentality from its lead guard would have fit better, at whatever level such a fit could have been found.
One thing I will never understand is that when recruits and their inner circles make decisions, do they watch enough basketball? Ronnie Johnson never should have been surprised that Purdue wasn't thrilled about him donning blinders, then over-dribbling his way into low-percentage drives.
Scott might have recognized that the frenetic pace he's always played at and the total free reign he's always had wouldn't be in place at Purdue.
I'll stop there instead of continuing this 48-hour referendum on the point guard position at Purdue.
I'll just say this: It's a shame this didn't work for both parties, but not a shock that it didn't.
Here's hoping Scott finds a place where he fits better, because he can be good and sure as hell wants to be.
As for Purdue, it simply has to get this point guard thing figured out. If you count C.J. Walker's decommitment this weekend, this is now three point guards in the span of roughly 12 months who have broken up with the program over style-of-play matters. In some cases, Purdue has been or will be better off but the fact remains there has been too much instability at the crucial position lately and as of this moment there is a void to fill on what could be an outstanding team next season.
Scott's departure, people will say, hurts Purdue's 2015-16 team.
But how can you say that when he did not play a prominent role this season?
Is it conceivable that it all could have come together between his way and Purdue's this off-season? Of course, theoretically, but considering that to be a known commodity would be an awful dicey proposition.
Aside from P.J. Thompson and Grant Weatherford, a pair of underclassmen not exactly ideally suited at their young age to be 30-minute Big Ten point guards, Purdue is short on options.
We don't know who's going to play point guard for the Boilermakers next season.
We just know it won't be Bryson Scott.
We may already have known that, though.
Copyright, Boilers, Inc. 2015. 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.
