Purdue Basketball’s Mason Gillis Wins Big Ten Conference Freshman of the Week

It was announced today that redshirt Freshman Mason Gillis has won his first, and likely not last, Big Ten Freshman of the Week.

As the tweet says, Gillis averaged 9 points and 4.5 rebounds over the two games versus Ohio State and Notre Dame. Perhaps the most impressive thing is that Gillis didn’t miss a shot in either game. I honestly can’t remember a span of a player going multiple games without missing a shot, assuming said player took a shot each game and didn’t take just one shot. In fact, it’s now been three games in a row that Gillis has gone 100% from the field. It’s sort of astounding when you think about it. I couldn’t go to my local Y and hit all my shots three days in a row if I was standing there by myself.

You may remember that Gillis is coming off quite a long break from the game due to a knee injury he suffered between his junior and senior years of high school. When you add up the days he missed in high school and redshirting last year well, the number might astound you. According to reporting by the J&C it was a break from competitive basketball of 985 days. Imagine taking 985 days off from competition. You might be a little rusty, and to be fair Gillis was a bit rusty to start the season, but he’s coming on now as the schedule heats up and his emergence will make a difference for this young Matt Painter led Boilermaker squad.

Gillis and the Boilermakers are next in action tomorrow against #4 ranked Iowa.