If you’re a “geriatric millenial” or older, then you might remember the days when the Indiana Hoosiers were the premier Big Ten program. In the late 1990s, the Michigan State Spartans took over. But the 2020s belong to the Purdue Boilermakers.
And the momentum train keeps rolling for last year’s national runner-up, despite the fact that they lost back-to-back National Player of the Year Zach Edey to the NBA.
Edey, currently averaging double figures with the Memphis Grizzlies, left a tremendously positively imprint upon the program. Of the many Purdue players who Edey influenced, senior power forward Caleb Furst is especially impressed by the Canadian’s special commitment to the craft of basketball.
“His work ethic sticks out,” Furst said in an exclusive conversation with RG. “The way that he worked hard each and every day.
“The way that he was so diligent about trusting what he knew he could do and using that to the best of his ability.”
Braden Smith, the second best player on last year’s Purdue Boilermakers squad, which made the school’s first Final Four since 1980, is this year’s primary veteran leader. He leads the Boilers in assists and steals.
Trey Kaufman-Renn and Fletcher Loyer shuffle back and forth in the position of being the team’s leading scorer.
Furst, who helped lead the USA U19 squad to the Gold Medal at the Basketball World Cup in Latvia, leads the Boilers in blocks.
He’s also studying/preparing to go to medical school after graduation.
So he’s got that going for him, which is nice.
And the Purdue Boilermakers program, as a whole, have a lot going for them as well.
Over the past four years they are the third-most winningest program in the nation, behind only the Houston Cougars and Gonzaga Bulldogs.
In beating the #2 Alabama Crimson Tide, 87-78, this past weekend, Purdue will no doubt move up in the national rankings.
Currently sitting at #13, Matt Painter’s side will most likely reside somewhere in the top 10 come Monday.
The old gold and black now have a 21-game winning streak at Mackey Arena, one of the loudest venues in all of sport. The Boilers now own the fourth-longest active home winning streak in the country.
In West Lafayette, Indiana where “Defense Lives Here,” they have now won 39 straight regular-season, non-conference games, which is tied for the fourth-longest streak in NCAA history.
And eight of those wins have come against teams ranked in the top 11 in the AP poll, including six against the top seven.
The Purdue Boilermakers are the Big Ten’s top program for a reason, they have an identity, and they stick to it. Year after year, regardless of who suits up for them.
Furst articulated that identity.
“I think it’s just continuing to play the game of basketball the way that we play it,” Furst added.
“Obviously, we don’t play it the same way that a lot of other teams do, when it comes to the amount of sets we run and how detailed not only our offense can be, but also our defensive principles can be, at times.
“Our coaches do a great job of kind of nailing that into our brains and ingraining that thought process. So it kind of goes back to sticking with the fundamentals, and continue to trust what got us to this point as a team, and as a program, and continue to do those things.”
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network, the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America and RG.org. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter.