NFL
By: Kevin Lucas
North Texas, Saint Peters, and last year’s historic loss to Farleigh Dickinson University are 3 NCAA Tournament losses that might just haunt Purdue fans until the end of time. Luckily though, things look different this year for the Boilermakers in a positive way.
Matt Painter and company return the National Player of the Year in Zach Edey in what is just the fourth instance ever. The other 3? Ralph Sampson at Virginia, Tyler Hansbrough at North Carolina and recently Oscar Tshiebwe at Kentucky. Edey is coming off of one of the most dominant seasons the college game has ever seen where he averaged 22 points per game, 13 rebounds, clean swept the Big Ten, and was a First-team All-American. With Edey holding off on the NBA it gives Purdue a great chance to reach the Final Four for the first time since 1980.
Purdue also returns their starting backcourt from last season in both Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer, who were both true freshmen a year ago and should be even better this upcoming season with some real experience under their belts. Loyer is a perfect fit for coach Painter because you can run him off all types of screens (which they do) and he is capable of knocking down shots from anywhere off the catch. Even with Smith crashing into that freshman wall, he was phenomenal running Purdue’s offense and setting up guys to get high-quality shots in their spots. Defensively both of these guards need to be better but with added physicality and basketball IQ that shouldn’t be an issue. Southern Illinois transfer Lance Jones will add a different dimension to the roster as he can go get his own bucket whenever, get into the paint to find others, and hit shots from the parking lot.
The glue guys for this squad must take some type of strides in order for Purdue to finally break through and reach the Final Four. These players all reside on the perimeter and will have to dig deep and do the little things to maximize their team as a whole this season. Guys like Mason Gillis, Caleb Furst, Ethan Morton, and freshman Myles Colvin will be the group that can turn Purdue from elite to potentially great. All 4 of the names just mentioned have different skill sets that make this squad more special, but they need just 1 of them to be a safety blanket as a scorer to relieve pressure off of the backs of Smith and Loyer. Trey Kaufman-Renn is the guy to watch out for as a breakout player, as he will have a major impact on this team and is a huge part of the future of this Purdue men’s basketball program.
Look back at the most recent National Champions and all of those teams have had multiple guys that can go out and get their own bucket off script. Last season Purdue pretty much came out of nowhere after beating both Gonzaga and Duke to win the PK85. The most important adjustment must come from Matt Painter and his staff as they will go from the hunter to the hunted. All of the preseason polls will have them ranked in the top 5, so with that target on their back they must take a giant stride mentally. Painter is usually at his best when the expectations aren’t as high, so with the reigning National Player of the Year back and expectations being Final Four or bust, we will see if Painter stays in his ways or adapts come March time.
The Boilermakers essentially have all of the necessary pieces to cut down the nets in Phoenix in April of 2024. Now they must shut out the outside noise and let the agony of last March fuel them into this new ”23-’24 season.
