Purdue completes its championship-caliber roster with an oversized sharpshooter

When the rest of college basketball went transfer portal crazy, Matt Painter stuck to his guns. Now, Painter has one of the best backcourts in the country with four-year starters Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer, who have Purdue poised to contend for a Big Ten Title and national championship next season. 

The Boilermakers took a bit of a step back with the departure of back-to-back National Player of the Year Zach Edey, but Smith emerged as the Big Ten Player of the Year and a First-Team All-American as he led Purdue to the Sweet 16 as a No. 4 seed. Now, Painter has fully recalibrated his roster around his star point guard and is putting the finishing touches on a team that’s finding itself near the top of many way-too-early Top 25s. 

While he’s been reluctant to dive headfirst into the portal, Painter has made two key additions this offseason, including a lengthy sharpshooter who is likely the final piece of Purdue’s offseason construction. 

Matt Painter lands North Florida transfer Liam Murphy

On Wednesday, Liam Murphy, a 6-foot-7 wing who played at North Florida last season after two years at Columbia, joined the Boilermakers for his final year of eligibility. The addition of Murphy counteracts two of Painter’s notable transfer portal departures, Myles Colvin and Camden Heide. While Murphy isn’t the athlete that either of those two players are, he’s a superior shooter and has the size to play small-ball four if Painter opts to downsize as he often did with Heide in the NCAA Tournament. 

A true volume sharpshooter, Murphy knocked down 42.3 percent of his 7.7 three-point attempts a game, and nearly 80 percent of his field goal attempts came from beyond the arc (according to CBBanalytics.com). Though he’s a capable passer, he won’t provide much playmaking off the dribble. Still, he’ll be vital to the offense as a pressure-release valve for Smith with constant opportunities for open corner threes as Smith probes the paint off the pick-and-roll with either rising sophomore Daniel Jacobsen, who missed nearly all of last season with a leg injury, or South Dakota State transfer Oscar Cluff. 

Murphy will be an important role player for Painter, but he’s another questionable defender, and the viability of this roster’s championship aspirations will be determined on that end of the floor. Purdue rarely attracts elite athletes who profile as lockdown perimeter defenders, which is why Lance Jones was such a crucial transfer portal pickup two years ago when the Boilermakers made a run to the National Championship Game. Yet, the loss of Edey was more damning for Purdue last season than Jones’s graduation. 

Without elite perimeter defenders, Painter has relied on massive rim protectors to erase defensive mistakes. Jacobsen was set to fill that role last season, but after his injury, it was a layup line for the opposition. With Murphy likely sharing the floor with Smith and Loyer, two passable but far from elite on-ball defenders, Jacobsen’s return and Cluff’s defensive acumen at the Big Ten level become that much more important. 

A knockdown shooter is also a perfect pairing with an elite point guard, so Murphy should be a perfect fit on the offensive end in West Lafayette next season. We’ll just have to wait and see how the Boilermakers defend before going all-in on another run to the Final Four.