5 Days to Purdue Basketball: Basil Smotherman

Lost in the excitement of having some real, live basketball to watch today we completely forgot to do today's countdown post. Given the player, Juan jokingly said that we should wait until next year, anyway.

Basil Smotherman - Jr.

Indianapoils, IN (Lawrence North HS)

6'6", 230 pounds

Forward

2015-16 Projection: Redshirt

As you know by know, Smotherman is taking the extremely rare redshirt year in the middle of his career. What's more, he volunteered to do so. He saw the numbers at his primary positions of the 3 and the four and saw his minutes could be limited, so he decided to voluntarily sit out and work on his game. I am not a huge fan of it because it means Purdue is without a proven player, but I suppose the shirt could be burned if absolutely needed, like if there were injuries.

So we will likely not see Basil again until early next year. In two seasons he has already had a decent career. He has played in all 66 possible games and even logged 20 starts, which makes his redshirt even more rare. He has never been a huge scorer, but he has been a player that can give you a surprise 10-12 points on any given night.

I am also a big fan of his athleticism. He is one of the most athletic players on the roster. He can make the exciting plays, highlight reel dunks, and steal-and-scores that do a lot to change momentum in games.

Going forward I know Smotherman will be working on his jump shot and defense. He wants to be a more complete player. He also seems likely to hang around for his 5^th year and not bail as a graduate transfer.