Big Ten Basketball: Way-too-early power rankings for 2020-21 season

Purdue will be a very interesting team to watch next season if only for the reason to see if they duplicate last year’s Jekyll and Hyde act when they play at home and when they play on the road. At home, they were dominant and beat teams like Michigan State by 29. On the road, well, they’d lose to teams like Nebraska by 14.

Aside from that, they’re banking on a breakout season from big man Trevion Williams. The 6-9, 270-pounder saw his role increase as the year went on and responded in some big ways, most notably his 36-point, 20-rebound performance against Michigan. Conditioning and foul trouble limited his minutes some but, if they can get those things worked out, the plan is to have everything go through Williams (which is a big reason why Matt Haarms opted to transfer to BYU).

Outside of Williams, the Boilermakers have a team full of role players. Nojel Eastern is a good defender but has never developed the way many assumed he would (and the way Purdue fans had hoped). Sasha Stefanovic has the potential to be a great secondary scoring option on the perimeter with his shooting, yet everyone else is largely expected to produce around the same level they did this past season.

Guards Jaden Ivey and Ethan Morton, both top 100 overall prospects, should provide more depth, but neither looks ready to contribute in a huge way right off the bat.

The success of Purdue’s season is essentially dependent on Williams becoming a star, and everything else will branch from that. Williams has the ability – we just have to see it consistently.