Big Ten Basketball: Analyzing each program’s 2020 recruiting classes
Purdue Boilermakers: No. 5 Big Ten, No .33 Nation
Zach Edey 7’3 / 290 C:
One of the best basketball players in the nation, as long as you include the quantifier, ‘who has been playing organized basketball for less than a handful of years’. The commitment from the three-star center from Ontario, Canada will be all the more impressive for Coach Matt Painter in a few years. His scoring touch can be described as being 7’3 and while playing at IMG he had no reason to get creative with the ball. Just as he has difficulty defending out on the perimeter, he is just as effective being a defensive presence in the post.
Ethan Morton 6’4 / 195 CG:
Some in the industry have Morton as a combo guard, but if his time at Butler High School has proven anything, is that he can do a little of everything. At around 6’4, depending on who you ask, Morton was the primary ballhandler and played the middle on Butler’s zone defense. Having the opportunity to take on so much responsibility was a blessing and a curse. Demonstrating his abilities placed him at 85 in the RSCI and as high as 72 according to Verbal Commits in May. Yet, although fewer than his big games, there were difficult games due to so much of the opponent’s attention being centered on him. His freshman year will see him be a solid rotational player in the Big Ten.
Jaden Ivey 6’2 / 165 SG:
At times the four-star shooting guard can shoot the lights out, at other times it seems as if he is shooting with the lights out. Ranked 87 on RSCI, Ivey was a clutch player with La Lumiere School. There however would have been fewer clutch opportunities if Ivey was hitting shots early in games as well. Although not immune to cold spells, when he is on he can extend the defense beyond the arc with his catch and shoot, or off the dribble or hit spot-up threes.
The La Lumiere offense did not function as well with him on the bench, for he is able to go right or left to the basket when his jumper is not falling. A taste of what he can do defensively was demonstrated versus prolific Prep as he picked up Jalen Green above the three-point line.