2017 Purdue Basketball Recruiting Class Update

In the comments of one of the IHSAA Tournament posts the other day someone requested an update on all of Purdue’s 2017 commitments. Well, you asked, so you shall receive:

Matt Haarms – 7’2” 225 – Haarms is a Big Ten champion, sort of. As you know, Haarms was forced to enroll in the spring semester because of a snafu that started his eligibility in the fall. He left his prep school in Kansas and is officially practicing with the team while he redshirts. Technically, he could play immediately, but this year is being treated as a redshirt year and he is practicing with the team. That’s a good thing, too. He gets a jump on bulking up and he gets to practice against Isaac Haas and Caleb Swanigan. This will make him a little more ready for next season.

Eden Ewing – 6.8”, 215 – Ewing is having a great season for Tyler Junior College. His team is 23-4 and is ranked 18^th nationally in the NJCAA Division I. He is averaging 13.2 points and 6.9 rebounds per game. He is shooting a healthy 54.2% from the floor and an impressive 45.2% from three. He is expected to come in and take many of Caleb Swanigan’s minutes should Swanigan go pro. Sure, he won’t replicate Swanigan (few can), but he will be a solid player.

Sasha Stefanovich – 6’5”, 184 – Purdue’s newest commitment is still alive in the IHSAA tournament as Crown Point won last night 66-36 over Hobart in its opening sectional game. That moves them to 21-3 overall in advance of playing Chesterton tomorrow night. They won 59-40 at Chesterton in the regular season. Crown Point won a sectional last season and was regional runner-up to Warsaw, which was the final 8 of the Class 4A Tournament. It was the second straight year they did that. He is averaging close to 20 points per game and over 6 rebounds.

Nojel Eastern – 6’5”, 210 – Evanston Township is 24-3 on the season and just won its opening state tournament game 55-35 over Niles West on Tuesday night. They recently beat Chicago powerhouse Simeon 56-38 in the City-Suburban Showdown and Eastern was limited to 4 points and 9 rebounds as Simeon sold out everything to stop him. He has been a complimentary player, gaining rebounds, blocks, and assists as opponents concentrate on him.

Aaron Wheeler – 6’7”, 180 – Brewster Academy is undefeated at 28-0 and is in the middle of the NEPSAC Tournament. They are the No. 1 seed and they are expected to qualify for the national Prep School Championship to be played next week at Albertus Magnus College. Many of the game wraps can be found here and Wheeler has been a double figure scorer for them for most of the season.