Purdue Basketball Recruiting: 2017 Update

By now, you know that Coach Painter already has a five man class for this 2017 group. This being: Nojel Eastern (4*), Aaron Wheeler (3*), Sasha Stefanovic (3*), Matt Haarms (3*), Eden Ewing (3*).

With potentially only one junior on the roster, if Caleb Swanigan leaves, and definitely one sophomore on the team in Carsen Edwards. We were bound to have a huge 2017 class. With the potential of returning Isaac Haas, PJ Thompson, Dakota Mathias and Vicnent Edwards, we shouldn’t be too worried with having such a large freshman class.

But the question is if Caleb Swanigan stays or does he go. If he decides to stay, he has until May 24th, then you obviously stop recruiting anyone and let him come back. If he leaves, well, we have a gigantic hole to fill in the front court.

So who has Coach Painter continued to recruit?

Malik Ondigo - 6’10”, 220 Pounds, Center, Putnam Connecticut, 3*

Malik is a raw center prospect. If he ends up on campus I am not sold he gets a ton of minutes from day one. He is an above average athlete, a rim protector and has continued to get stronger. He is definitely a defensive type center. His offensive game is raw, which is where I think we will hurt the most from losing Biggie. Having a rim protector on the roster again would be nice, as we lacked that last season. If Taylor doesn’t stay healthy and Malik is on the roster he may be forced to play some back up center minutes though.

Garrison Brooks - 6’10”, 230 Pounds, Power Forward, Auburn, Alabama, 4*

Garrison came out of nowhere the other day on Twitter, saying we were in his top 4 schools left. That post has been taken down since, but “Purdue remains in good standing”. He is a nice power forward prospect, that has the ability to score and can protect the rim with his length. He is a big strong kid for being a senior in high school. He would be a great late addition to this class if Biggie does go pro. He has a ton of offers on his Rivals page, including Iowa State, Florida State, Baylor and Vanderbilt.

Trevor Thompson - 7’, 250 Pounds, Center, Ohio State University, 5th year

The talk of this has kind of died down. It appears as if Thompson prefers to just head to the NBA. But, I guess he could choose to transfer and be able to play immediately. If the NBA is his end goal, then coming to Purdue would be hard, as he and Isaac Haas essentially play the same position. Unless they are both okay having 20 minutes each. Trevor was the 2nd leading rebounder in the B1G this past season at 9.2 behind only Caleb Swanigan. He also scored 10 PPG. This is a long shot, but I guess there has been some contact.

Chris Sodom - 7’2”, 225 Pounds, Center, Memphis, Tennessee, 3*

Sodom is super long and athletic. If the name sounds familiar, we were recruiting him hard in the summer and fall before he gave his Verbal to New Mexico. Chris isn’t an offensive juggernaut by any means, but he could be a great asset on the defensive end. Could you imagine in the 2018-2019 season having Matt Haarms at 7’3” and Sodom at 7’1” on the court at the same time? Both can move really well for their size and could switch on ball screens. Sodom just asked for his release from New Mexico, along with a couple other commits they had. In the fall, Sodom had offers from Purdue, Kansas, Florida and Texas A&M. I am unsure if those are still standing.

Obviously, if Biggie returns, none of these guys are in play. But, I trust what Coach Painter has done and will continue to do. Any of these guys would look great in the old gold and black!