Two More Players Depart Purdue Basketball

Purdue’s roster heading into the offseason received some more turnover, with one player being well known throughout the entire season and the other being a recent development.

The first is the obvious one, Trevion Williams will not be returning to the team next season.

There’s been a touch of discourse about this, but it was reported heading into the season that Trevion Williams, Sasha Stefanovic and Eric Hunter Jr. had told Matt Painter that they would not be taking advantage of their extra year of eligibility they received due to COVID-19. Williams joins Stefanovic as the two seniors to make if official, with some fans speculating that Hunter may ultimately comeback for one last season. That speculation gained some momentum with the news that Isaiah Thompson had entered the portal.

While the departure of Williams was expected, his presence will be missed next year. In a sixth man role he averaged 12 points, 7.4 rebounds and 3 assists per game splitting minutes with Zach Edey. While Purdue still has Edey, they’ll miss the 1-2 punch and convenience of having two outstanding big man, often being able to sidestep and completely avoid foul trouble inside.

The more surprising development was the news that Purdue guard Isaiah Thompson was entering the transfer portal.

In his junior season he averaged 4.2 points, 1 rebound and 0.9 assists per game. With Hunter potentially gone it could have paved the way for a starting role, but a lot of people anticipate Matt Painter to likely hit the transfer market to look for a starting point guard. Purdue also adds a pair of guards in Braden Smith (three-star point guard) and Fletcher Loyer (four-star shooting guard). Ultimately Thompson likely transferred out to try to find a school where he could start in his senior season.

Of course Purdue will also lose Jaden Ivey, who declared for the NBA Draft. Ivey is projected as a potential top five lottery pick so he won’t be back. Purdue does bring in a solid 2022 recruiting class, as well as a pair of forwards from 2021 that redshirted this past season (Brian Waddell and Trey Kaufman). While Purdue will have plenty of talent across the roster, they will be considerably less experienced in 2022-23 after bringing back basically everyone this past year.