Big Ten Basketball: Preseason power rankings for 2021-22 season

There’s reason for optimism in West Lafayette for Purdue basketball in 2021-22. Head coach Matt Painter survived a ton of roster turnover this offseason, losing just one player in their frontcourt from a season ago in Aaron Wheeler.

Now, they’ll look to show they can repeat last season’s performance or do even better than their 13-6 performance in 2020-21. They didn’t beat Michigan or Illinois but, they will be on the minds of the Boilermakers as they return big man Trevion Williams and a strong guard in Jaden Ivey.

The Boilermakers made an appearance in last year’s NCAA Tournament as a No. 4 seed but they dropped their first-round matchup against North Texas in overtime. With a ton of experience and guard-play returning, expectations will be high for Coach Painter and his troops in arguably the best conference in college basketball.

7-foot-4 big man Zach Edey will slide into a starting center role after producing 8.7 ppg, 4.4 RPG, and 1.1 bpg in his debut season off the bench. He’ll need to show he can hang with the other big men in the conference and be an anchor for the Boilermakers this season.

Ivey, Williams, and Edey are just a few names to know. Sasha Stefanovic and Brandon Newman are two returning sharpshooters with more to prove as well. Stefanovic shot 40 percent from behind the arc this past season, posting 9.3 ppg, 2.6 RPG, and 2.6 apg across 25 appearances (21 starts).

Newman shot 37.9 percent from 3-point range while averaging 8.0 ppg, 3.5 RPG, and 1.3 apg across 28 appearances (23 starts).

There’s little room for error for Purdue basketball in 2021-22, but with some depth in the frontcourt arriving in their 2021 recruiting class, they could get over the hump.