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I am not used to starting the basketball season on a Tuesday night, but that is where we are with next week’s beginning. As a result, we will have one player each of these last four days before tipoff.
Emmanuel Dowuona - Fr.
Accra, Ghana (Westwood Christian HS in Miami)
6’10”, 230 pounds
Center
2018-19 Projection: Likely Redshirt
I am afraid that Dowuona is the very definition of “project center”. He has only been playing basketball for 4 years and came to the United States jsut after that. He does have the gift of “he’s very tall”, which, of course, cannot be taught. Because he took some high school courses in Ghana he was only able to play the first half of last season for Westwood Christian High down in Miami. It wasn’t a situation where we could get him on campus early like Matt Haarms though. His college eligibility had not started, so there was no benefit to bring him on board early.
He is a strong defensive center, but he averaged 19 points, 14 rebounds, and 5 blocks in his half season last year. His offensive game is still developing though. ESPN had him as a top 100 player though even though he has a way to go.
Purdue is very likely going to redshirt one of Dowuona or Trevion Williams, and it seems like it will be Dowuona. Williams has more of an offensive and rebounding upside right now, while Dowuona only managed five minutes in last night’s exhibition. Still, with the way Purdue develops big men, he could be a major asset in time.