Post by mhbruin on Apr 3, 2024 13:07:01 GMT -8
CHANGES
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Finally we have the Purdue Boilermakers who finished first in the B1G. They are coached by Matt Painter who has finally shed the title of "best coach who has never made the Final Four"
In his 19 season in West Lafayette, he has been to the tournament 15 out of 18 times with a Championship Game appearance, an Elite Eight, and 5 Sweet Sixteens. He does a great job of finding under-appreciated talent and coaching them.
Purdue was not only fortunate to have the two-time player of the year in Zach Edey. They also had the same starting lineup in all 39 games. Not a single starter missed a game. Also, their top two subs never missed a game. I wonder how many teams can say their top 7 players in the rotation played every game this season.
Players 8 and 9 in the rotation played in 37 and 36 games our of 39.
GRADUATING
| Player | Games | Starts | Minutes | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Notes |
| Lance Jones | 39 | 39 | 29 | 12 | 2.7 | 1.9 | Southern Illinois transfer |
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The Boilers lose one senior to graduation, but he was a full-time starter and their third-leading scorer.
IN THE DRAFT OR TURNING PRO
| Player | Games | Starts | Minutes | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Can Return? |
| Zach Edey | 39 | 39 | 32 | 25 | 12.2 | 2.0 | No |
Purdue "only" loses two players, but that does include the two-time national player of the year. Edey led the nation in scoring and total rebounds. He was second in rebounds per game. He is a BIG loss in more ways than one.
TRANSFERRING OUT
| Player | Games | Starts | Minutes | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Notes | Destination |
| Mason Gillis | 39 | 0 | 21 | 7 | 3.9 | 1.7 | Played more minutes than starter Kaufman-Renn | |
| Ethan Morton | 37 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 0.9 | 1.1 | x | x |
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Mason GIllis was Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year.
RETURNING
| Player | Games | Starts | Minutes | Points | Rebounds | Assists | FG% | 3-Pt% | A/TO | Class | Recruiting Stars | Recruiting Rank |
| Braden Smith | 39 | 39 | 34 | 12 | 5.8 | 7.5 | 44% | 43% | 2.8 | Jr | 3 | 216 |
| Fletcher Loyer | 39 | 39 | 28 | 10 | 2.1 | 1.9 | 42% | 44% | 1.7 | Jr | 4 | 122 |
| Trey Kaufman-Renn | 39 | 39 | 17 | 6 | 4.0 | 0.9 | 51% | 33% | 1.2 | Sr | 4 | 50 |
| Myles Colvin | 31 | 0 | 9 | 3 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 44% | 41% | 0.8 | So | 4 | 63 |
| Camden Heide F | 39 | 0 | 13 | 4 | 1.9 | 0.4 | 58% | 45% | 1.4 | Jr | 3 | 141 |
| Caleb Furst | 36 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 2.4 | 0.6 | 44% | 27% | 1.2 | Sr | 4 | 67 |
| Brian Waddell | 14 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 43% | 17% | Jr | Unranked | ||
| William Berg | 14 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 1.9 | 0.1 | 75% | So | ||||
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Purdue brings back three starters and three rotation players. They also bring back a ton of three-point shooting including four guys show shot over 40%. However, Edey got so much attention that it gave them a lot of wide-open three-pointers. They may not be as accurate from the arc without the big guy.
Braden Smith was second only to Tyler Kolek of Marquette in assist per game and he led the nation in total assists. He is also one of the best rebounding guards in the nation. He was also #30 in A/TO ratio.
Braden Smith was first-team All Big Ten, and they only have five players on the first team. Clearly, Matt Painter saw something that other coaches and the recruiting services missed. Smith's other offers were Appalachian State, Montana, and Toledo. It proably helped that Smith went to school an hour away from the Purdue campus.
Fletcher Loyer was a very solid second guard for Purdue.
Coach Painter has said he expects Trey Kaufman-Renn to be a star next season.
Will Berg is another of those giant centers Matt Painter is so fond of. He is 7-2, 255.
RECRUITS
(#12 class, #2 in B1G)
| Player | Size | Position | Recruiting Stars | Recruiting Rank | Offers |
| Kanon Catchings | 6-8 185 | SF | 4 | 34 | Xavier |
| Gicarri Harris | 6-4 180 | CG | 4 | 90 | Georgia Tech, LSU, Stanford |
| Raleigh Burgess | 6-10 205 | C | 3 | 141 | Indiana, Iowa, Ohio State |
| Daniel Jacobsen | 7-3 235 | C | 3 | 193 | Minnesota, Wisconsin, Clemson |
| CJ Cox | 6-2 175 | CG | 3 | 234 | Brown, Dartmouth, Boston U |
| Jack Benter | 6-4 180 | SG | 3 | Unranked | Indian St, Liberty |
This may not look like an impressive recruiting class, but it is pretty typical for Matt Painter. He hasn't had a 5-star recruit since Caleb Swanigan in 2015. I don't think he has ever had the highest-rated class in the Big Ten. Yet he continues to have winning teams, get to the NCAA tournament, and win games there. Expect several of these players to turn out quite a bit better than their rankings suggest.
Danielle Jacobsen is another giant center. You can't coach 7-3.
TRANSFERRING IN
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At one point Mekhi Mason was going to Purdue, but he is now headed to Washington.
CONCLUSION
Coach Painter likes to build his team out of freshmen who stay with the program. The only player on last year's roster who didn't start off at Purdue was Lance Jones.
Next season he will start with a solid core of three starter and three rotation players who played a lot. However, after that he will have to integrate a lot of new players including six freshmen. Braden Smith is a star, but the Boilermakers are unlikely to be nearly as good as last season. There is little chance they will have another injury-free season.
I don't think it is wise to underestimate a Matt Painter team. They will be one of the best teams in the Big Ten next season.