When the 2018-19 Purdue Men’s basketball season ended how it did. Many questions were floating around the program, what would this team look like without Ryan Cline, Grady Eifert, and surely without Carsten Edwards? Throughout most of that season, it was very clearly Carsen Edwards's team and he had the green light whenever he wanted it. But it wasn’t just Edwards, for our fans, we also saw a lot of contributions from younger guys. Guys like Eric Hunter Jr, Trevion Williams exploded on the scene as a tandem piece to Matt Haarms inside, and everyone saw what Aaron Wheeler was capable of being. So when the combination of Cline/Eifert/Edwards departed, there were still high expectations going into 2019-20. So why did this team fail to reach the heights expected to only finish just above .500?

There were some, I believe, fair and high expectations for this Purdue program as the 2019-20 season was drawing nearer. There were questions about replacing the amount of production that Edwards and Cline provided especially. It can be hard to answer those questions, but Purdue had been doing it for years. The program over the last 5 years seemed to be answering that question every year in some form or fashion. Going into the 16-17 season people were asking how they would replace the defensive pieces of Raphael Davis and AJ Hammons? They won the B1G behind All-American Caleb Swanigan. Before the 17-18 season, they asked how we could replace a double-double machine and All-American in Caleb Swanigan? Purdue responded by reaching the highest AP ranking in years and at one point having a 20 game winning streak. Then before the 18-19 season. I think the questions surrounding the team were valid, they asked how we could replace 4 seniors in Isaac Haas, Vincent Edwards, Dakota Mathias, and PJ Thompson? Carsen Edwards responded by becoming the Big Ten scoring leader and leading Purdue to its first Elite Eight and should have been Final Four, in years. Purdue has been answering these questions season after season. So, why didn’t 19-20 work the same way?

Many fans thought that the production gap left by Carsen would be a team effort and would be a process of everyone stepping into their new roles. So what were the expectations for certain players in the new roles they find themselves in?

• Eric Hunter Jr. - EHJ suddenly found himself in the starting lineup and was now expected to be a facilitator as well as a more consistent scorer. He needed to provide some scoring as it is well known how Nojel Eastern struggles on the offensive end.

• Aaron Wheeler - I, along with many other Purdue fans, had some extremely high expectations for Wheeler going into the season. He showed as a Redshirt Freshman the athletic ability as well as the shooting ability to be a great offensive threat going forward and I was looking forward to seeing what he could do with a more expanded role on the team.

• Sasha Stefanovic - Sasha could watch and learn throughout 18-19 being able to learn from Cline and Edwards. Many thought that he would step into a similar role that Dakota Mathias filled when he was on campus, mainly his shooting ability as well as having a high basketball IQ.

• Trevion Williams - After exploding onto the scene as a true freshman in 18-19, Williams I believe had the highest expectations going forward. Even though he would be splitting minutes with Haarms, fans still expected him to be the anchor inside on the offensive end.

I could go line-by-line and player-by-player highlighting what was expected of them but those I think were the guys most fans were excited to see the progression from the offseason. Guys like Matt Haarms and Nojel Eastern becoming upperclassmen, we already knew what we were getting from them and expected them to be the leaders on the team. There is also the incoming freshman that was generating some discussion. Purdue had 3 incoming recruits in Mason Gillis, Brandon Newman, and Isaiah Thompson. Many were expecting at least 1 of them to come in and contribute immediately. But, as it turns out, Gillis and Newman end up redshirting and sitting out the season to many fans displeasure, while Thompson is the one who sees minutes throughout the year.

It became pretty apparent at the beginning of the season that the player turnover of this year would be a bit different than the last few years. In years past Purdue just seemed to pick up where they left off and continued. But this year we got reminded quickly that it isn’t always that easy. The second game of the season Purdue lost to Texas within the safe and sure confines of Mackey Arena, something that was thought impossible based on years past. Then Purdue goes on the road and blows a big lead @Marquette and suddenly a team that went to the Elite Eight was 1-2 in hurry with some glaring issues that needed fixing.

But it wasn’t all doom and gloom. For every Texas/Marquette/@Nebraska loss, there were amazing wins like beating then #5 Virginia by 29. Iowa by 36(!!!). Michigan State by 29. And these results brought forth the biggest question marks and issues people had with this team. This team just could not keep any consistency from game to game. Guys who couldn’t miss a game before, all of a sudden can’t make a wide-open shot and would disappear the next. It was frustrating to watch as a fan because there were games you saw the potential of the team and others that made you scratch your head and question how they could be such different teams.

So, why was this the case? Maybe losing a player like Carsen Edwards was more significant than originally thought. Having players like Carsen is important for all elite teams just as much as balance. Every team needs a guy like Carsen, a guy who when the going gets tough, he can go get a bucket no matter how hard it is. Cline also had some of this trait (see: Tennessee in the S16) This team just felt like no one was that guy. This team worked when there was a balanced scoring attack paired with team defense. I think towards the end of the season, Eric Hunter Jr looked poised to take that role, but even then it would take time.

There has also been a lot of discussions online and in-person regarding the redshirt decisions that Painter made this year. I think we all thought and were excited to see Mason Gillis step onto the court and contribute immediately. It certainly looked like he had the potential in his high school film. Brandon Newman was a bit more expected to redshirt as he was coming off a knee injury and needed more time to get back into division 1 shape. The other so thought likely redshirt was Isaiah Thompson, who was the only one of the three to see the floor in 19-20. I suppose Painter thought that Thompson would benefit more from gaining the playing experience right away (I believe it also has more to do with the 2020 recruiting class that has a couple of guards that will immediately battle for minutes, but we’ll cover that later once we move into 2020-21 previews). So maybe it was the decision to redshirt Gillis that held this team back? Or maybe Painter just believed he had enough to let Gillis/Newman take a year to adjust to the college game likely meaning Painter believes that Gillis has a larger roll in future seasons. Only time will tell on that front.

Nonetheless, the 2019-2020 Purdue basketball season came and went and even though it ended early due to the coronavirus. Our Purdue Boilermakers finished just above .500 at 16-15 leaving a bit of a sour taste in the mouths of everyone.

But that’s no way to think! You can’t change the past and you can only look forward from here! I believe that we are staring down the beginning of another great run by Purdue Basketball and I think it starts by getting the incoming freshmen on campus and begin integrating them in the fold. I think Jaden Ivy will be a great piece to plug into this team. Then you have Ethan Morton who has been said to be an even better passer than Dakota Mathias was (hard to believe but I’m salivating just thinking about it), and an intriguing project in 7’3 Zach Edey. Couple them with the returning player, as well as getting Gillis and Newman off redshirt and you have the makings of some exciting basketball in West Lafayette!

Keep an eye out over the next few weeks I begin to breakdown the different pieces going forward into next year’s season!

As always, Boiler Up, Hammer Down, Hail Purdue!