Saturday Roundtable - 2023-2024 Purdue Basketball Expectations

If it’s Saturday, it must be the roundtable. Where I ask the staff a question and share the results with you. I don’t think today’s topic should surprise anyone.

With Edey officially back, what are your way too early expectations for next season? Let’s hear them on the record!

Jumbo Heroes:

Anytime you get the reigning National Player of the Year to come back you’ve got to understand that expectations are going to be through the roof. This team will be no exception. They will start the year easily in the top 5 and will have early season tests to prove their mettle. The Maui Invitational should be the biggest of these challenges with an absolutely loaded tournament that includes Gonzaga, Marquette, Kansas, Syracuse, Tennessee, and UCLA. The tournament bracket hasn’t been released yet but no matter who Purdue plays it’s going to be tough.

All that preamble out of the way, in my opinion expectations for next season are as high as they were for the final year of the Baby Boilers. It’s a Final Four season. Yes, I know we said that last year and we all know what happened, but the roster is laid out to make a big jump. Loyer and Smith should be vastly improved after a full year in the program. Camden Heide and Myles Colvin will add additional skillsets that the team lacks. I can’t say enough about guys like Mason Gillis, Ethan Morton, and Caleb Furst. Plus, TKR will have another year in the program and will be ready to grasp all the minutes he can handle.

I’m excited about this group and I truly think it could be the year Purdue finally breaks through and gets that Final Four.

Jed:

As great as the return of Edey is, Purdue knows what it is getting from the Big Maple. The key is going to be Heide and Colvin and what those two can be for Purdue. If those two can provide similar results to Loyer and Smith, Purdue can grab another regular season title, a B1G tourney title, and another 1 seed. With those better athletes on the floor, the floor should be an Elite 8 run.

Ryan:

I’m going to go with at least Elite 8. I think Edey goes back to back NPOY, Loyer becomes the consistent elite shooter we know he is, and Myles Colvin makes an instant impact to the reigning Big Ten Champs

Gabi:

I think we are all probably scared to say/think our expectations after last season. In some ways we overachieved being ranked #1 multiple weeks, winning the Big Ten, BTT, and earning the coveted one seed. Of course none of that matters to anyone else because we will always be the second team that lost to a 16 seed.

We will be mocked regardless of what we do next season unless we avenge it. When I think of Virginia, yeah I remember them losing to UMBC, but I also remember them coming back to win it all the following season. For me, at this point, it’s the only redemption.

We are scared to be #1, we are scared to over-perform in November then squander down the stretch because of FDU. But we can’t be scared, we can’t lower expectations. As my old coach used to say, play to win, don’t play not to lose.

This year is a little different than last year; this year the expectations are high. We know what Edey is capable of. We are returning the NPOY, the freshmen now have a year under their belts, we have some really athletic guards coming in. We have experience, we have depth, and we have a loss that has to be redeemed.

I don’t expect us to go undefeated and I’m sure there will be some kinks to work out like any other team. But regardless of what we do in the regular season, whether we win the Big Ten again or the Maui Invitational; none of it will matter. The only thing that will matter is March, all eyes will be on us and for good reason.

I think Painter has recognized some flaws to his system and will work to change the ebb and flow when need be. So at this point, to me there is only one option/expectation here and that is to win it all.

Editor’s note: This video seems appropriate for Gabi’s predictions. NSFW