Paradoxes abound in new era of Purdue basketball

Purdue will seemingly change more than it has in years this coming season.

And at the same time, things are the same as ever.

“We’ll do a lot of the same things as in the past,” head coach Matt Painter said at a summer practice last week. “We won’t have as much in a certain area as other years. Obviously the ball’s gonna be in Braden Smith’s hands. Fletcher Loyer’s gonna get more actions.”

That depleted area? Pretty obvious considering the vacancy of a two-time National Player of the Year center moving up to be a potential NBA lottery pick. And in Zach Edey’s wake, the closest thing Purdue has to another dominant post presence is junior Trey Kaufman-Renn, who profiles as a forward as much as a center.

Painter said Kaufman-Renn could be the center if Purdue “goes small.” A lineup like that may include Kaufman-Renn with Smith and Loyer as the guards and sophomores Camden Heide and Myles Colvin on the wing.

It would allow the Boilermakers to pack as much experience as possible into their five spots, in lieu of starting a more unproven center like freshman Daniel Jacobsen or the lightly-played sophomore Will Berg next to Kaufman-Renn in the post.

In that scenario, things will look more like they did last season, Painter said, with more opposing defenders clinging to the basket.

“Trey Kaufman-Renn has proven that he can score with his back to the basket,” Painter said. “I think he can do a bit more than that and didn’t get that opportunity. He has the chance to have an all-conference-type season.”

The last time Purdue’s two leading scorers were both guards, as Smith and Loyer will have the opportunity to be this season, was 2019 when Ryan Cline and Carsen Edwards led the Boilers to the Elite Eight.

And Purdue has only had one lottery pick (Jaden Ivey) since Painter took over the team.

“Yeah,” Painter said as a reporter referenced Edey’s first-round draft projection, the faintest smile flashing across his face. “That’s cool.”

So things could be different. But changing at the height of success wouldn’t make sense for Purdue and Painter, the coach said.

“When you start to win more, you think, ‘Okay this is gonna start to propel our recruiting,’” Painter said. But he’s wary of the recruiting rankings that have repeatedly smiled on other schools even while his has won on the court.

“I couldn't care less what they put,” he said, in terms of his players’ recruiting rankings. “I like them. I want the same guys we’ve been getting. I don’t want a different guy.”

So Purdue will be different, and Purdue will stay the same. And there’s another one – the paradoxes abound. Purdue has new blood, but a more entrenched “old guard” than most programs in the country.

“We have a lot of new guys, but in comparison to everyone in college basketball, we have a lot of experience returning, too,” Painter said. “How can you have both, right?”

“Nobody’s signing six guys and having seven visits,” he said. “And then not taking anybody in the spring (transfer portal). Taking two guys in the portal in four years. Nobody in college basketball’s doing that except us.”

The result is a roster with Big Ten-ready talent 10 or more players deep, same as last season when Painter would repeatedly defend his playing time decisions with, “I wish I had more minutes to give out,” or similar attempts at placating his under-utilized guys.

“I think we’ve got everybody in our program right now looking to play,” Painter said. “That’s a big statement for 13 people. But it’s also a great problem.”

“Try to get in front of guys,” Painter said. “Even though it’s your teammates and you love them, you gotta beat the guy in front of you.”

The depth is such that projected one-and-done player Kanon Catchings was “concerned about his role” on the team in the lead up to summer practices, Painter said, and requested release from his binding National Letter of Intent the first week of June.

When Catchings contacted Painter the next day to try to make amends, Painter said he would rather the team move on without the four-star recruit.

“It’s probably better if we part ways if you’re questioning things before they start,” Painter remembered telling Catchings at the time.

Painter was clear on what played out with Catchings, and he was also clear that his vision of team building did not exclude those on an NBA trajectory, though that kind of player has been a relative rarity at Purdue. He draws a hard line on how those coveted minutes are distributed.

“I can’t anoint a role to somebody out of thin air. Zach Edey didn’t have a role, Fletcher Loyer didn’t have a role. They came in here, they earned what they got, and that’s the way it is.”

And the way he sees it, players who could go to any school in the country on the strength of their ability aren’t excluded from starting from zero, and fighting for scraps.

“They’re all culture guys,” Painter said. “The greatest talent that’s ever played is Michael Jordan. He’s a culture guy. So you can’t look at culture guys like they’re just under-recruited. Everyone’s a culture guy if they’re about winning.”