I saw new Purdue commitment Carsen Edwards play two full games this spring at the Lexington EYBL, then part of one overtime game at the Peach Jam a few months later.
So my eye-witness background with Purdue's one and only point guard recruit for 2016 is pretty limited, but here is what I can tell you.
• He is a combo-oriented guard, a shooting guard type in a point guard's body, which is a different way of saying he's short for a 2. Purdue recruited more natural point guards than Edwards, but is happy to have him to fill its point guard need.
• Edwards is on the shorter side at maybe 6-foot, but he is powerfully built and plays with some toughness to him, reminding to some extent of a smaller Keaton Grant that way, though smaller usually means quicker and that is the case here.
• He can really shoot, with a very quick release and way about him in terms of getting off shots. His delivery does have a certain 'launch' quality to it - not sure how to describe it; it's not like I get paid to use words properly or anything - and we will see how that translates, but it does look to me like Purdue has a chance to have another point guard who can shoot, which is kind of novel.
That said, Edwards does have a quick trigger to him based on what we've seen in a limited sample size and he is obviously somebody who has been a scorer, so again, he is going to be a college combo who will play the point.
• I think there can be real defensive potential there, because he is strong and comes off like a solid-effort guy. All I can tell you there.
Last week someone asked me to rank the point guards Purdue had offers out to, the others being Xavier Simpson and Te'Jon Lucas, neither of which will continue to be pursued now. I put Edwards third, but only because of what I mentioned earlier about the others looking to me like more natural point guard types that did Edwards, who is more of a combo guard.
I'll circle back to Grant … he was a combo guard too and he won a hell of a lot of games for Purdue when surrounded with a supporting cast that was pretty damn talented, like the supporting cast Purdue has a chance to put around Edwards in the years to come.
Edwards can be an important piece of Purdue's future because Purdue needs/needed whatever point guard it got for 2016 to be an important part of the future.
As we've discussed ad nauseum, that is the position they have to get solved. Like quarterback in football, Purdue has to find that guy who's going to stabilize that crucial position and end the tumult at the one spot where stability is needed.
It's not going to rain Jon Octeus' and Johnny Hills' forever, you know.
From what I can tell and from what is universally believed, Edwards is a good player, a good prospect and a good fit.
When all was said and done, when it came to Purdue's urgent point guard need for 2016, that's all Purdue needed, a good player, a good prospect and a good fit.
Now, we'll see where the class goes from here.
Matt Painter and his staff don't need anything else. Doesn't mean they won't take a good big man or a good wing, just don't have to take mediocre ones if they can't get good ones.
The one absolute must was filled Tuesday night.
