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As predicted on Monday’s episode of the Hammer and Rails podcast the Men of Mackey added a significant name to their roster.
ANNOUNCEMENT Please welcome @BoilerBall alum @insane_mane20 to the squad for the 2021 @thetournament!
— Men of Mackey (@PurdueTbt) June 1, 2021
✅ @B1GMBBall Defensive Player of the Year
✅ @B1GMBBall First Team
✅ @NBA Draft Pick
We couldn’t be more excited to add AJ to the squad for this summer! #BoilerUp pic.twitter.com/mtjb1u3jCU
Casey called this one 100%. Not sure if he had some sort of inside info there or if he’s just that good. The addition of A.J. Hammons comes on the heels of the introduction of Ryne Smith as the returning head coach for the Men of Mackey. Hammons joins a roster that already has Lewis Jackson, Jon Octeus, and Even Boudreaux. That’s a pretty good group to start with.
Hammons of course played for Purdue from 2012-2016. He averaged just over 12 points and an even 7 rebounds per game. For his career he scored 1593 points and grabbed 930 rebounds. We all know the man was a beast on both ends of the court as the tweet from Men of Mackey indicates that he is a Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year. What a luxury to have a guy like that backing you up on the court. He will be able to clean up a lot of mistakes at the rim and allow the Men of Mackey defense to play a bit more aggressive.
Hammons was drafted 46th overall by the Dallas Mavericks in the 2016 NBA Draft. Hammons played in 22 games for the Mavericks before being traded to the Heat where he was waived. He has not played in the league since. Hammons has recently been helping out at the Raphael Davis basketball camps along with new teammate Lewis Jackson. I’m excited to see these two guys share the court. They only missed each other by a season at Purdue and now they will be on the floor at the same time.