In an era where the most important words in college basketball are transfer portal and the most critical acronym is NIL, No. 14 Purdue is going about things the old-fashioned way.
As the Boilermakers prepare for their season opener in West Lafayette, Ind., against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, their entire 18-man roster contains no one that has worn a different uniform. And there’s one massive player no longer calling Purdue home.
“Nothing changes,” said veteran coach Matt Painter, entering his 20th season at the program’s helm. “People think you’re going to have some grandiose plan all the time but the game doesn’t change. You have to get people who play well together. You have to take care of the basketball. You have to rebound the basketball. You’ve got to run things and run actions that make the defense vulnerable and play to the strengths of your team.”
It might not be as easy for Purdue, which played for the national title in April and lost to two-time champion Connecticut.
That was the final college game for 7-foot-4 center Zach Edey, who graduated after winning consecutive national Player of the Year honors.
But the Boilermakers still return three starters from a 34-win team, chief among them point guard Braden Smith (12 points per game, 7.5 assists, 5.8 rebounds) and sharp-shooting guard Fletcher Loyer (10.8 ppg, 44.4 percent 3-pointers).
Up front, 6-9 Trey Kaufman-Renn (6.4 ppg) figures to see a spike in shots and points. Last year, he showed he could take advantage of teams when they collapsed around Edey, scoring 23 points in a January win over Illinois and 18 in a rout of Utah State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
“We feel like we can be a really good defensive team and we feel like we can play a couple of different ways offensively,” Painter said.
While Purdue aims to stay at a national championship contender level, the Islanders look to contend for a Southland Conference title after going 21-12 in coach Jim Shaw’s first year. That was with 92 percent of the previous season’s production gone.
Shaw returns four starters and three other key contributors, hoping his group can take the next step and earn the program’s third NCAA bid in four years.
“We have a few more playmakers and guys who can create their own shot,” he said. “But our front line has to continue to rebound for us to be successful.”
The marquee name is 6-8 senior Garry Clark, a first-team all-Southland pick after averaging 13.2 points and 8.1 rebounds while leading the league in field goal percentage (53.2).
“A great young man who knows how to score and rebound on both ends,” Shaw said of Clark.
Guard Jordan Roberts, along with forwards Owen Dease and Stephen Giwa, also return to the lineup. Sixth man Dian Wright-Forde (10.4 ppg) could step into the lineup after finishing second on the squad in scoring.
This will be the first meeting between Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Purdue.
