Recruiting - Purdue Boilermaker Scholarship Chart Review

Things have been pretty quiet on the Purdue basketball front lately, so it seems like a good time to see where the Boilermakers stand on the scholarship front right now. Here is what the current situation looks like:

The first thing that pops out to me on this scholarship chart is the lack of scholarship players for the upcoming season and also the fact that 50% of the players are true freshman. The Boilers are going to be incredibly young again with no senior scholarship players on the roster. There is going to be significant reliance on AJ Hammons once again and also true freshman PJ Thompson as he is the only realistic option at point guard unless Bryson Scott has improved his handle and decision making tremendously over the offseason. The freshman class does have a lot of talented players as I discussed a few months ago here, and it is really going to be up to how quickly that class matures as to the success of Purdue this season.

While this season may be tough on the Boilers again, the future does seem brighter than it has for a couple seasons. Coach Painter seems to have a roster full of hard working high basketball IQ players which is what Purdue basketball is supposed to represent. The one possible notable exception to that is Mr. Hammons, and Boiler fans are really hoping he gets his act together this offseason and becomes the star player that everyone knows he is capable of. The Boilers have landed one verbal commitment for the 2015-2016 season in Ryan Cline, who I think is very under rated at this point. That leaves Coach Painter with two openings and I think he will focus mainly on the point guard and wing spots unless he believes AJ Hammons won't return for his senior season in which case he might try to land another big man. The development of Isaac Haas and Jaquil Taylor this season may also play a role in that decision.

The 2016-2017 season also looks very promising for the Boilers assuming the current freshman class pans out as planned. All five positions are covered in that class and Coach Painter should still have Stephens, Smotherman, and Scott to rely on barring any transfers between now and then (which have plagued Purdue in recent years). There are also four current openings for Coach Painter to further add to his talent pool. Overall, I think Boilermaker fans like where their program seems to be heading right now. There may be another tough year to get through, but if Coach Painter survives that - it sure seems like he has the seeds planted for success in the near future.