32 Days To Purdue Basketball: Errick Peck

The countdown continues with another promising player on Purdue's roster. With a lack of leadership this year, Painter went out and recruited two solid veterans to help contribute to this team. I had a summer class with Peck this year, and I am super pumped to have a guy with his mentality on this team. It'c crazy to think that he and Kelsey Barlow came from the same high school, because this guys' mentality could not be more different.

Errick Peck - SR (Transfer)

Indianapolis, IN (Cornell University)

Forward

6'6" 223 pounds

2013 Prediction: Spot starts at small and power forward

Peck is an intriguing player. He's shown off pretty good athleticism at Cornell, and is capable of playing either forward position - which is great for him because Matt Painter loves guys who can be a smaller four. Peck was showing a very promising career at Cornell, but lost a year due to injury.

His senior year, Peck averaged 9.7 points, 4.8 rebouds, and 1.6 assists in 29 games where he started 11 games. He also set a school record of completing all eight of his field goal attempts against Penn, where he scored 20 points. However, his best game came against Dartmouth where he scored 26 points. He ended his senior year by scoring in double figures in 8 of the last 11 games.

Prior to getting injured in 2011, Peck averaged 11 points per game and 3.6 rebounds in the 27 games he played, starting 24 of them. Peck showed moments of greatness against nationally ranked opponents Minnesota and Syracuse, averaging 15 points per game in both contests. He had a strong game against Bucknell that year, scoring 21 points with 8 rebounds. He also had 22 points against Dartmouth and hit four straight three pointers to open up the second half.

Peck also has NCAA tourney experience as well. He was a freshmen on the Cornell team that made a run to the Sweet 16 in 2009-2010. That season, he only played 228 minutes, but averaged 17.9 points per 40 minutes.

Peck has talent, there's no question about that. He has played against schools like Duke, Minnesota, and Syracuse and has proven that he can hang with that competition. However, it will be interesting to see how a full season of Big Ten play will affect his game. I think this is a very solid pick up for CMP, and Peck should be ready to contribute right away to this team with scoring and rebounds, not to mention leadership.

I think it's tough to tell if Peck will start right away or not. I've heard multiple rumors that he will and won't. Either way, I wouldn't mind him starting at the four, depending on the team we play. Peck is quick and athletic with a killer spin move (wouldn't hurt to youtube it), so he can beat bigger guys off the dribble. Peck will be a fun player to watch this season, and will be a good mentor for the younger guys on the squad.