Busting Brackets
Fansided

Purdue Basketball: 2018-19 season preview for the Boilermakers

By Tristan Freeman

WEST LAFAYETTE, IN - JANUARY 09: A general view of the Iowa Hawkeyes playing offense in the second half against the Purdue Boilermakers at Mackey Arena on January 9, 2011 in West Lafayette, Indiana. (Photo by Chris Chambers/Getty Images)
WEST LAFAYETTE, IN - JANUARY 09: A general view of the Iowa Hawkeyes playing offense in the second half against the Purdue Boilermakers at Mackey Arena on January 9, 2011 in West Lafayette, Indiana. (Photo by Chris Chambers/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
5 of 5
Next
BOSTON, MA – MARCH 23: Matt Haarms #32 of the Purdue Boilermakers walks off the court after his teams loss to the Texas Tech Red Raiders in the 2018 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament East Regional at TD Garden on March 23, 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts. The Texas Tech Red Raiders defeated the Purdue Boilermakers 78-65. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
BOSTON, MA – MARCH 23: Matt Haarms #32 of the Purdue Boilermakers walks off the court after his teams loss to the Texas Tech Red Raiders in the 2018 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament East Regional at TD Garden on March 23, 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts. The Texas Tech Red Raiders defeated the Purdue Boilermakers 78-65. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

Expectations for Purdue in 2018-19

Let’s just start this off by saying that 30 total wins won’t be happening for the Boilermakers this season. There will be a dropoff – with the question being how much? The last time Purdue lost at least three of their top scorers they went on to go 16-18 the following season and had to rebuild.

That won’t happen this time around, with a solid mixture of talented newcomers and seasoned veterans aboard. There will be a ton of pressure for Edwards to have another Big Ten Player of the Year kind of season, although the opposing defenses will gameplan on him in a way that they couldn’t last year with the seniors around.

The key for Purdue this season is finding that reliable third scorer besides Boudreaux and Edwards. Eastern is likely to fill up the stat sheet more than dropping 15-20 each night, so it’ll be up to one of the freshmen to become a welcome surprise and provide that level of production to keep the team in games.

Unless Edwards goes off this season and carries the Boilermakers to the NCAA Tournament, there’s a good chance that the team will end up on the wrong side of the bubble. Even the elite programs struggle the following season after losing the amount of talent that Purdue did.

Next. Preseason Big Ten Rankings for 2018-19. dark

But even if that happens, look for it to be a one-time affair. With only one senior in the group combined with potentially another solid recruiting class, look for Purdue to get right back in the thick of the Big Ten title race for the 2019-20 season. This year will certainly have its share of growing pains for them but it’ll all be worth it for a program and coach who has shown that they should be taken very seriously.

Home/Purdue Boilermakers