Purdue Basketball: Impact of losing starting center Daniel Jacobsen for 2024-25 season

After a stellar debut, Purdue Basketball freshman center Daniel Jacobsen suffered a lower leg injury in the first minute of their second game against Northern Kentucky. During Sunday's media availability, Head Coach Matt Painter revealed that the young center will be medically redshirting due to a broken fibula.

Jacobsen's debut went according to plan. Starting both games, he put up a stat line of 13 points, seven rebounds, and three blocks against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

Jacobsen was projected to be Purdue's starting center and a key piece on a team that could raise a banner this year. Unfortunately, he must hold off for a year before terrorizing Big Ten foes.

Where Next for Purdue?

With losing your starting center, the question of "where do we go next?" inevitably follows. In the 39 minutes following the Jacobsen injury, the center spot looked to be a rotation of returners Caleb Furst, Will Berg, and freshman Raleigh Burgess. Will Berg received the most minutes of that group and was also the most productive.

Berg's stat line of seven points and seven rebounds was most productive line for the centers. The three ended up combining for 19 points and 14 rebounds.

A glaring warning sign for Purdue in that game was the ability, or lack thereof, to rebound the basketball. The Boilermakers failed to outrebound the Norsemen as they ended the game with 33 rebounds apiece. This is a dangerous trend for the Boilers, as NKU had just one player over 6'9 and he logged just 12 minutes.

Purdue is at the beginning of a very tough schedule, and the road will not get any easier. The Boilers play Yale tonight, before facing Alabama and Marquette in back-to-back games. With the loss of Jacobsen, Purdue may need to try new things.

When asked about Trey Kaufman-Renn, Painter described it as "no question" that he would be considered to play the center spot. Kaufman-Renn often found himself there in the few minutes Zach Edey sat last season.