Big Ten Basketball: Updated way-too-early rankings after the NBA Draft

In similar fashion to Ohio State, it is just not smart to overlook the Purdue Boilermakers. Head coach Matt Painter is one of the best in the business and Purdue has finished with at least 12 wins in Big Ten play in each of the past four seasons. The team is coming off of an excellent season in 2017-18 but Isaac Haas, Vince Edwards, Dakota Mathias, and P.J. Thompson are all gone now. Still, some of the major pieces are returning.

Most notably, Carsen Edwards is without a doubt a National Player of the Year contender. The rising junior guard from Texas averaged 18.5 points per game last season while posting shooting splits of 50/40/82 (FG/3P/FT). He will be the go-to player without question during this upcoming season and his skill set allows him to take over games almost at will. With Edwards leading the way, it is hard to imagine that Purdue would slip out of the top-half of the Big Ten.

In addition to Edwards, rising sophomores Matt Haarms and Nojel Eastern look poised for breakout seasons after playing in limited roles as freshmen. Both of these players do not score all that well outside of the paint but are valuable rebounders and defenders. The other major returning option for this season will be rising senior Ryan Cline. Although he averaged just 4.0 points per game this past season, Cline is an elite shooter who will spread the floor for the Boilermakers.

Purdue is also bringing in three top-200 recruits who could see immediate playing time.