Will Purdue Add Another Recruit Into The Fold For Next Season?

Since the college basketball season concluded, Boilermaker fans have been wondering if Purdue would add any players for the upcoming season and beyond. At the time of this writing, Matt Painter and the coaching staff have two open scholarships for next year and four in 2022-23.

We have seen Painter dip into the graduate transfer market in recent years with the additions of Jon Octeus, Evan Boudreaux, Johnny Hill, Spike Albrecht, and Jahaad Proctor. All of these players had specific roles within the program and more or less have not been go-to players once they arrived in West Lafayette.

As much as fans would like to see the likes of Marcus Carr, Adam Miller, and other special talents suit up for the Boilermakers, but that is just not something this program does very often, if at all.

There are a couple of options for this upcoming season that have already been floated out in the media.

• It has been a quiet offseason for Matt Painter on the transfer portal market as there have not been many players linked to the Boilermakers thus far. A few uncommitted players that could be on Purdue’s radar include Jalen Coleman-Lands, Kevin Easley, and Musa Jallow who were all pursued by the Boilermakers coming out of high school. At this point, it would be surprising to add someone from the transfer portal, but it is certainly still in the cards.
• The most likely outcome is 6-7’ wing Brian Waddell committing to the Boilermakers out of Carmel High School in Indiana. Waddell of course is the son of former Boilermaker Matt Waddell and is regarded by many as a late bloomer. At the collegiate level, he is likely to be a 2-4 player that can shoot lights out from deep, defend multiple positions and play high-IQ basketball. By all indications, Waddell would be a prime redshirt candidate and a valuable piece for Purdue over the next 4-5 years.
• Two more high school prospects that have been offered at the very least are Tamar Bates and BJ Freeman. Bates is a Top-50 combo guard that would bring instant offense to West Lafayette alongside Jaden Ivey and the crew. After de-committing from Texas, he seems to be locked in on Marquette, Oklahoma State, Indiana, Alabama, and Missouri, but Purdue made contact with him too. Freeman is a bit up in the air on his recruitment, as the only high major schools to offer him are Purdue and Penn State. The uber-athletic wing from North Carolina has a host of mid-major offers and appears that he will land at one of those schools.

Some fans might be discouraged by the lack of interest in recruits, especially with Aaron Wheeler and Emmanuel Dowuona leaving via the transfer portal along with Jameel Brown de-committing in the class of 2022. Waddell is almost a done deal at this point and should be commit as expected, I highly doubt that Matt Painter will bring anyone else in.

Aside from the two transfers, the Boilermakers expect to retain the entire roster heading into next season. Not to mention the two four-star recruits in Trey Kaufman-Renn and Caleb Furst being added to an already loaded roster. Regardless of what happens it is forever and always, In Matt Painter we trust!