Purdue Basketball: Breaking down the 2018 recruiting class

With four starters graduating this offseason, Purdue basketball needs to usher in the future of the program. Enter three highly-touted 2018 recruits.

Purdue basketball had a special season in 2017-18. Led by an All-American sophomore and four elite seniors, the Boilermakers were one of the best teams in the country throughout the year. At the end of the regular season, Matt Painter’s team was awarded a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament and reached the Sweet 16 prior to falling to Texas Tech.

Looking ahead to 2018-19, though, it would be irrational to expect that kind of success for the second straight year. Purdue might be one of the better programs in the country but it seems extremely unlikely that they will be a top-2 seed in the NCAA Tournament again this time around. This is mainly due to the fact that it is incredibly difficult to make up for the losses of four senior starters. The return of rising junior Carsen Edwards gives the Boilermakers a National Player of the Year contender but not much else.

While there are some other returning players on the roster, no one other than Edwards averaged more five points per game. This lack of returning talent and therefore a lack of returning depth is something that fans in West Lafayette have to be worried about. There is still plenty of time before the 2018-19 season begins and therefore head coach Matt Painter can definitely work on fine tuning his rotation.

Nonetheless, it seems likely that at least one player from Purdue’s 2018 recruiting class will see minutes right away. Let’s break down the three incoming freshmen.