2017 Purdue Basketball Recruiting: Eden Ewing Commits

Matt Painter is quickly closing up a solid 2017 recruiting class with a few pieces left in play before signing day tomorrow. Eden Ewing, a 6'9" 215 pound forward out of Tyler Junior College in Texas has committed to Purdue per Evan Daniels of Scout:

2017 Junior College forward Eden Ewing has committed to Purdue, per coach TJ Ford.

— Evan Daniels (@EvanDaniels) November 8, 2016

Ewing will have two years of eligibility remaining once he arrives next fall. He originally committed to Nevada out of Bush High School Richmond, Texas, but went the JuCo route. here is what the Reno paper had to say about him when he committed in 2014:

Ewing's connections to Ford go back a ways. Ewing's uncle, Daniel Ewing, played with Ford at Willowridge High in Missouri City, Texas. Both were McDonald's All-Americans in 2000-01. Daniel Ewing went on to play for Duke before a pro career that included a short stint in the NBA and now six seasons in Europe.

The younger Ewing, whose Bush High team has reached the state semifinal each of the past two seasons (he averaged 10 points and seven rebounds last season), said Carter told him he could play some small forward and some power forward here.

This season Ewing is playing with a somewhat familiar name from near Purdue. Des Balentine from Kokomo is a freshman on the Tyler JC roster, and he is the younger brother of Evansville's now all-time leading scorer D.J. Balentine. the Apaches have already played and won two games this season, but their own site does not offer stats.

Ewing fills an expected need with Caleb Swanigan likely off to the NBA and Vincent Edwards entering his junior season with his own NBA dreams. He is the first JuCo coach Painter has grabbed since Nemanja Calasan and Chris Reid, so it has been awhile. It is expected he will play early and often. Here is what BT Powerhouse wrote of him:

While the scouting services are pretty quiet regarding Ewing and his game, he’s a physical player with the ability to do work with his mid-range game. Ewing is also a high energy player that brings that enthusiasm to the defensive end of the floor.

Finally, we have an updated scholarship grid:

Bear in mind, any departures to the NBA would open up another 2017 spot. Nojel Eastern is still a strong possibility to be added to the class as recently as tomorrow. Ewing, Haarms, and Wheeler can officially sign their NLI tomorrow.