purdue men's basketball section

ONE FOR ALL ...

... ALL FOR ONE

CARRY ONJaJuan Johnson and E’Twaun

Moore believe the Boilers can still reach their goals despite Robbie Hummel’s injury. Page 3

HUMMEL HEALINGHummel may not be a factor

on the court this season, but he plans to play a key role from the sideline and in practice. Page 4

CHAIRMEN OF THE BOARDRebounding may determine

Purdue’s success this season. That responsibility lies with more than one person. Page 8

FRESH FACESThe freshmen — two more

Johnsons for the backcourt and Travis Carroll on front line — will contribute. 0

www.jconline.comSunday, Nov. 14, 2010 JOURNAL & COURIER

Purdue scheduleDate Opponent TimeNov. 14 vs. Howard 5 p.m.Nov. 17 vs. Alcorn State 7 p.m.

Chicago Invitational ChallengeNov. 21 vs. Oakland 7 p.m.Nov. 23 vs. Austin Peay 7 p.m.Nov. 26 vs. Southern Illinois at Hoffman Estates, Ill. 8:30 p.m.Nov. 27 vs. Richmond/Wright State at Hoffman Estates, Ill. TBA

ACC/Big Ten ChallengeDec. 1 at Virginia Tech 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 4 vs. Alabama 3:30 p.m.Dec. 7 at Valparaiso 9 p.m.Dec. 11 vs. North Florida 6:30 p.m.

Boilermaker BlockBusterDec. 18 vs. Indiana State 4 p.m.

Dec. 21 vs. IPFW 6:30 p.m.Dec. 28 at Michigan 2 p.m.Dec. 31 vs. Northwestern noonJan. 5 at Penn State 6:30 p.m.Jan. 9 vs. Iowa noonJan. 13 at Minnesota 7 p.m.Jan. 16 at West Virginia TBAJan. 19 vs. Penn State 8:30 p.m.Jan. 22 vs. Michigan State 9 p.m.Jan. 25 at Ohio State 9 p.m.Jan. 29 vs. Minnesota 1 p.m.Feb. 1 at Wisconsin 7 p.m.Feb. 8 vs. Indiana 7 p.m.Feb. 13 at Illinois 1 p.m.Feb. 16 vs. Wisconsin 6:30 p.m.Feb. 19/20 vs. Ohio State TBAFeb. 23 at Indiana 8:30 p.m.Feb. 26/27 at Michigan State TBAMarch 1 vs. Illinois 7 p.m.March 5/6 at Iowa TBA

Big Ten tournamentMarch 10 First round at Indianapolis TBAMarch 11 Quarterfinals at Indianapolis TBAMarch 12 Semifinals at Indianapolis TBAMarch 13 Finals at Indianapolis TBA

NCAA tournamentMarch 17-20 First and second rounds*March 24-27 Regionals**April 2-4 Final Four at Houston

* First and second round sites are Denver, Tampa, Tucson, Washington, D.C., Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland and Tulsa

** Regional sites are Anaheim, New Orleans, Newark, N.J. and San Antonio

2 Sunday, November 14, 2010 Journal & Courier • www.jconline.com

PURDUE BASKETBALL 2010-2011Inside

• The Big Three was reduced to two when Robbie Hummel suffered a season-ending knee injury during preseason practice. Read how fellow seniors JaJuan Johnson and E’Twaun Moore plan to carry on and help their teammates reach their goals. Page 3

• Find out how Hummel is coping with his injury and what role he plans to play this season. Page 4

• Learn how the three seniors — plus former Boilermaker Scott Martin — formed a bond in high school and ended up at Purdue in a top-10 recruit-ing class. Page 5

• While much has been made about Johnson and Moore, the real key to this team’s success may be the point guard. Page 6

• One weakness in the past for the Boilermak-ers has been rebounding. What steps have they taken to improve? Page 8

• How do DJ Byrd, Ryne Smith and John Hart fit in this season and what roles will they play? Page 9

• A strong freshman class is expected to con-tribute early to Purdue’s success. Page 10

• Player bios. Page 11• J&C sportswriter Jeff

Washburn believes the Boilermakers remain a strong team. Page 12

• Read what the Big Ten analysts have to say about the conference race this season. Page 13

By Michael Heinz/Journal & Courier

Purdue coach Matt Painter is beginning his sixth season coaching the Boilermakers.

Follow the Boilermakers this seasonFULL COURT PRESS

For complete coverage, including game previews and recaps, feature stories, notebooks and commentary, visit www.jconline.com/purduehoops throughout the season

PHOTO GALLERIESThe Journal & Courier

photo staff will offer game action and fan galleries from a majority of games online at jconline.com

BLOG & TWITTERThe J&C’s Jeff Wash-

burn shares his insights on his blog at jconline.com/blogs

You can also follow him at twitter.com/JeffWash-burnJC

www.jconline.com • Journal & Courier Sunday, November 14, 2010 3

PURDUE BASKETBALL 2010-2011

Things you didn’t know about E’Twaun Moore:

1. I love Rap and R&B music. Jay-Z is my favorite artist.

2. I love comedy movies. My favorite comedy actor is the late Bernie Mac.

3. I like going to a baseball batting cage. I always tell my dad, “I should have been a baseball player. There’s more money in base-ball.” I hit it OK. The last two times I went, I hit the ball pretty well. I think I should have been a baseball player.

4. I love to eat Mexi-can food.

5. I also enjoy being a DJ. I’m a good DJ. I’ve done it at parties.

5

1. I like to cook. I’m especially big on pasta dishes. If I’m not sure how to make it, I will call my mom for advice.

2. I like scary movies. I’m eager to see Paranormal Activity 2.

3. I love to play video games.4. I like to play golf. Rob got me into

golf. I’ve gotten better, although this summer, I didn’t get to play as much as I

wanted.5. I enjoy looking up and finding

inspirational quotes on the Internet. Whatever mood I’m feeling, I try to find a quote to match it.5

Things you didn’t know about JaJuan Johnson:

And then there were two“Everyone is going to have to do a little bit more.”

JaJuan Johnson, senior forward on playing without Robbie Hummel

“JaJuan and I have goals to be more vocal ... do more to help the other guys get through things.”

E’Twaun Moore, senior guard on playing without Robbie Hummel

Johnson, Moore vow to carry on without HummelBy JEFF [email protected]

E’Twaun Moore remem-bers how overwhelmed he was as a high school fresh-man when Matt Painter showed up at East Chicago Central to watch an open gym scrimmage.

“That was the first time a college coach expressed in-terest,” Moore said. “I didn’t know what to think.”

That same year, tall and lanky JaJuan Johnson also was overwhelmed when Painter was watching him play AAU games during a time the center barely was skilled enough to play for Franklin Central’s freshman B team.

“I was still learning the game, and there coach Painter was,” Johnson said.

As the two Purdue stand-outs prepare for their senior season, no longer are they overwhelmed.

The third piece of this senior class to remember — 6-foot-8 forward Robbie Hummel — has been lost for the season with a second right knee injury in eight months.

Now this becomes Moore’s team and Johnson’s team.

Hummel will be there providing support and in-struction, especially to the younger players, but No. 4 won’t be helping Johnson rebound or creating open shots for Moore.

Moore, who averaged a team-leading 16.4 points last season when the Boil-ermakers finished 29-6, promises he is prepared to provide the intangibles this team will need on and off the court.

“It’s always been the same for me as far as the leadership part,” Moore said. “JaJuan and I have goals to be more vocal ... do more to help the other guys get through things.

“We just won’t have Rob’s input on it. Some people may not think I’m comfort-able in a leadership role. But I’ve always talked. Outside people may not see that, but I definitely feel comfortable. I will hope they help me if I make a mistake.”

Moore and Johnson will have to adjust to playing without their classmate. For example, there are rotations in which Johnson will play Hummel’s power forward position instead of center.

If point guards Lewis Jackson and Kelsey Barlow struggle at the free throw line — Jackson shot 44.4 percent from the stripe last year and Barlow shot 46.6 — Moore may direct the of-fense in the final minutes of close games.

Because they are experi-enced, Moore and Johnson will be asked to be more versatile than ever.

“I think it can work,” Moore said. “JaJuan can guard a smaller player be-cause he is long and athlet-ic. He also can step out and make an outside shot.”

Johnson, an Associated Press Preseason All-Ameri-can first-team selection, averaged 15.5 points and 7.1 rebounds last season.

With Hummel sidelined, Johnson believes he would be making a mistake by try-ing to do too much.

“There’s an opportunity for someone else to help this team,” Johnson said. “Sure, we lose a little bit on both ends of the court. Rob is a good leader for this team.

“Everyone is going to have to do a little bit more. We’ve been in this situation before. Because it happened at the

See TWO, Page 4

Huddle upA few keys to the

Purdue men’s basketball season:

Moving past HummelThe Boilermakers

must find a way to win close games without injured forward Robbie Hummel’s versatility and multiple skills.

ReboundingJaJuan Johnson is an

accomplished rebounder, but those who will assist him — Patrick Bade, Sandi Marcius and Travis Carroll — are not.

A defensive stopperFor four seasons,

Chris Kramer stirred the defensive pot, making life miserable for opponents. Can anyone fill his shoes?

Point guardLewis Jackson is the

small quick one. Kelsey Barlow is the tall explo-sive one. Rarely does a college team have so much versatility at point guard.

Another scorerJaJuan Johnson and

E’Twaun Moore are proven scorers, but with Hummel’s injury, who becomes the third scoring option? Ryne Smith, Terone Johnson, John Hart, DJ Byrd and Anthony Johnson will be auditioning.

Is bigger better?For now, JaJuan John-

son is Purdue’s starting center, and Bade is the power forward. Could Marcius or Carroll be the eventual starting center, sliding Johnson into the power forward spot.

Johnson, Johnson & Johnson

It will create a broad-caster’s nightmare, but there will be times when JaJuan Johnson, Terone Johnson and Anthony Johnson are on the floor together. By the way, none are related.

Down the stretchBeginning with a Jan.

22 home game against Michigan State, Purdue has an 11-game window in which it plays MSU twice, Ohio State twice, Illinois twice and IU twice.

— Jeff Washburn/[email protected]




Senior forward Robbie Hummel plans to mentor his younger teammates after suffering a season-ending injury.

Hummel down, but far from outBy JEFF [email protected]

Five days after a second season-ending knee injury in as many years, Robbie Hummel wanted to be in-volved in what his Purdue basketball teammates were doing.

The 6-foot-8 forward stood under Mackey Arena’s south basket and watched as the Boilermak-ers’ young big men worked on screening, then rolling and screening again.

When redshirt freshman Sandi Marcius was strug-gling to grasp the concept, Hummel walked onto the court and instructed Mar-cius. Within minutes, Mar-cius understood.

Although the two-time All-Big Ten Conference first-team selection won’t score a point or grab a re-bound during what was to be his senior season, Hum-mel vows to help this team win.

It’s a trait that endears Hummel to his teammates and coaches, as well as Purdue fans.

“Rob is the best,” coach Matt Painter said. “It’s tough to find guys like him. It’s not something we take for granted. That’s how he handles things. He has experience of overcoming things. That’s something that will continue to moti-vate him.

“He kind of moves to the next challenge. He has a long road, but you always break things up. You take on that challenge. You feel terrible for him. It’s very frustrating when you can’t help somebody. He will get it down. He will be back.”

DJ Byrd said this team must do everything in its power to use Hummel’s injury as a source of moti-vation.

“Every day, we see Rob putting in hours to get back,” the sophomore guard/forward said.

“We’ve seen the passion he shows for both the team and for the game. What happened is hard for ev-eryone. At the same time, this team has to keep go-ing and keep him in mind when we’re doing stuff.

“If we keep that in mind, any little injury doesn’t hurt any more. The goal definitely is the same. We’re going to work toward our championship goals. We will take it seriously every day in practice.”

Hummel, who aver-aged 15.7 points and 6.9 re-bounds last season, appre-ciates the encouragement he has received from all his teammates, especially fel-low seniors JaJuan John-son and E’Twaun Moore.

“They told me anything that I need, they are more than willing to help,” Hum-mel said. “They have been

great through the whole thing, but there’s not a whole lot they can say.

“They understand that I am very frustrated, and I think they are very frus-trated. Everybody is.”

A team expected to be among a handful capable of winning the NCAA cham-pionship now is missing perhaps its most versatile player.

Some national media members have dropped the Boilermakers from elite status.

“When you lose a big piece of what you do, peo-ple are going to doubt you,” Painter said. “With that, it motivates our guys. We don’t huddle a lot and talk about things. We just go out and practice and try to get better.

“This is something we’ve been through. There is a silver lining to all of this, but you don’t know what it is. You have to be optimis-tic and positive. They em-brace that.”

Just like everyone asso-ciated with Purdue basket-ball embraces Hummel.

“I always felt Rob com-pleted us with all the in-tangibles that he brought to the table,” Painter said. “It’s very unfortunate. Ev-erybody feels terrible for Rob.

“But in terms of having a very good team with a lot of experience, we have

those things. Now we have to bring it all together and have success. We still have a lot of quality players.”

Painter doesn’t want his players to be consumed with what is being said and written about what the Boilermakers cannot do without Hummel.

“Every coach in America gets that ... when the na-tional media picks against you, especially the way they did against us in the (2010) NCAA tournament,” Painter said. “That’s a hard thing on a young mind.

“But the disappoint-ment would lie in not play-ing hard. You can’t control everything. We just need to play hard. We have to do a lot of things just to get into the NCAA tournament.”

Hummel, who will be watching this story unfold, vows to return for the 2011-12 season.

“I will have a year to prepare,” Hummel said. “That’s more than enough time. Next year we lose E’Twaun and JaJuan, but I don’t think the cupboard will be bare.

“We still will be good. I really think that. I guaran-tee that I will do everything in my power to come back and work just as hard, if not harder, to come back.

“Still, it’s not the most ideal situation that could have happened.”

beginning of the year, we have a little time to adjust and gel with each other.”

Illinois coach Bruce We-ber said if there is a silver lining for Moore and John-son, it’s that they will begin their senior season know-ing that Hummel won’t be there to help them instead of having to adjust on the fly in late February.

When Hummel was in-jured in last season’s 27th game — Feb. 24 in a victory at Minnesota — roles were well defined.

Then, when Hummel went down, Moore’s shoot-ing percentage slipped, and Johnson was left as Purdue’s only established rebounder.

“They had to try to reinvent their team in midstream,” Weber said. “They did a great job. Chris Kramer and Keaton Grant stepped up, and they got a piece of the Big Ten and made a nice NCAA tourna-ment run.

“It’s sad for Robbie and Matt (Painter), and it’s sad for their program and the Big Ten. Robbie is such a quality kid. If you are mak-ing a mold for an ideal col-lege basketball player, he would be somebody you would use as that exam-ple.”

Painter says he now has a team with two poten-tial All-Americans instead of three. Is two enough to achieve the lofty goals many Boilermaker fans an-ticipated?

“Until we play an actual game, it’s kind of hard to tell what we have,” John-son said. “I think our ex-pectations as a team are the same that we had from the beginning — win the Big Ten and get to the Fi-nal Four.

“It might be harder, but I think all of our goals are attainable. We made it to the Sweet Sixteen last year without Rob and were leading Duke at halftime. If we stay together, anything is possible.”

Big Ten Network ana-lyst Shon Morris, a former Northwestern player, has watched Moore and John-son for three seasons and is among those that still be-lieves Purdue has enough firepower.

“Purdue losing Hummel is a big thing, but E’Twaun is a guy that I think gets overlooked,” Morris said.

“I don’t understand it, but he does. All that guy does is score, win, make plays and get assists.

JaJuan is a tough matchup, too. They have two tremen-dously strong players.”

Painter will ask for plen-ty from Moore. He wants the 6-4 guard to be a more active rebounder — he av-eraged 3.8 a game last sea-son — and the lockdown defender on the perimeter.

Moore, according to Painter, never will be a Kramer-like defender but is solid, especially for a leading scorer.

“E’Twaun really has im-proved defensively,” Paint-er said. “He has done a very good job of leading and making the right play. I’ve always said, especially now with Rob out, E’Twaun has to let it come to him.

“When he lets the game come to him, I wouldn’t trade him for anybody. But when he presses a little, he tries to be too aggressive and not pick his spots. At times, he has a predeter-mined thought. When he lets it come to him, he is pretty dangerous.”

For Moore and Johnson, decision making becomes more important than ever.

They’ve averaged 27 victories in their first three collegiate seasons, but Hummel, Kramer and Grant — all good decision-makers — were on board for most of those wins.

“JaJuan and E’Twaun need to be good teammates and be good leaders,” Paint-er said. “They need to play winning basketball. What separates good to great is, ‘Do you have the ability to make people around you better?’

“That’s going to be a big challenge for JaJuan and E’Twaun. They both have the ability and quality to be those guys. Right now is a great challenge for those guys. I think they are up to it. I thought we had three All-American caliber play-ers. Now we have two.”

Work ethic is one con-cern Painter does not have for Moore and Johnson.

“They always have been guys that have put time into their game,” Painter said. “Sometimes guys that are not as outspoken as others still are leaders by just working hard. If you see JaJuan and E’Twaun coming early and staying late as an 18-year-old walk-ing into a program, you say, ‘Well, that’s what you are supposed to do.’

“If you get guys showing up at 3 p.m. and leaving at 5:30, a young guy will say, ‘That’s what you are sup-posed to do.’ We’ve got two guys leading who care and who want to win. That’s why we should be success-ful.”

TWOFROM PAGE 3



Seniors formed bond during AAU experienceBy JEFF [email protected]

When they were fifth-graders, Robbie Hummel and Scott Martin were teammates for a state champion Amateur Athlet-ic Union basketball team in Valparaiso.

As seventh-graders, East Chicago’s E’Twaun Moore and Indianapolis’ JaJuan Johnson became friends as AAU opponents.

With AAU basketball as the common thread, one of the most heralded recruit-ing classes in Purdue his-tory — Martin transferred to Notre Dame after his freshman season — be-gan to evolve during their eighth-grade year when they participated in an AAU tournament at Lafayette’s Tecumseh Middle School.

After Martin’s defection, Moore, Johnson and Hum-mel hoped to complete a four-year run of excellence together by helping the Boilermakers seek a Final Four trip.

Now that Hummel has been sidelined for the sea-son with a second right knee injury in eight months, only Johnson and Moore will complete their senior season together.

That doesn’t erase their elementary and middle school basketball memo-ries, which represent some of the best times of their lives.

“We were playing in this tournament at Tecumseh, and it was a legit tourna-

ment,” Hummel said. “I had a T-shirt from winning it all, and it had every team on it ... Lawrence North, Ben Davis, East Chicago, us, Terre Haute. I kept it for a long time.”

That tournament’s show-case game took place in the semifinals when Moore and East Chicago played Hummel, Martin and Val-paraiso.

Until that day, Hummel was unaware of Moore. Now he never will forget his Boilermaker teammate.

“This guy is just killing us,” Hummel said. “We had two of the best players in the state, if not the country, and we can’t guard E’Twaun. I didn’t know who he was. I said, ‘Who is this guy? Why can’t we guard him?’

“Then when E’Twaun was a freshman, I found out he had 30 against La-Porte in a regional game. I said, ‘Well, that’s why we couldn’t stop him. He is one of the best players in the country.’ Then it made sense. We played them a lot. We may have beaten them every time.”

Moore smiles when he re-calls the game in Lafayette against Valparaiso.

“It was just crazy,” Moore said. “I knew they had a good team. We didn’t know each other personal-ly, but they had some other guys my age that were also pretty good. We had a real good game, a wild game.

“Both teams were going at it. Somebody on our team punched Scott Martin in

the stomach. It was real in-tense. They won the game, but I had a lot of points. I always was a scorer, so I was putting the ball in the bucket, especially in that game.”

It was a team that im-pressed Moore, who ad-mired the way Hummel played. A year later, Hum-mel and Moore became AAU teammates, further bonding their friendship

and potential as college teammates.

“I couldn’t see this hap-pening in eighth grade, but by junior and senior year in high school, I remem-ber thinking, ‘This could be something special,’ ” Moore said.

“The three of us definite-ly work well together. Any time I penetrate and get help, I dump it down to JJ. Or, if I’m driving and Rob is open, I kick it to him for a 3-pointer. We complement each other well.”

Even before Moore and Hummel became friends, Moore and Johnson were spending time together.

“I met E’Twaun in sev-enth grade,” Johnson said. “I saw him a lot through AAU, recruiting trips and things like that. He came over to my house in high school, and we hung out. We would talk on the phone.

“I really got to know Rob during my sophomore year in high school. I got to know him playing AAU ball, and then we both were recruited by Purdue. From there, we started seeing each other here and there.”

During the spring and summer after their high school junior years, all four accepted scholarship offers to play at Purdue.

Johnson was first. Moore was second. Then it was Hummel, and Martin was last.

Martin never was com-fortable at Purdue, but Moore, Johnson and Hum-

mel have parlayed their eighth-grade AAU experi-ence into a lasting friend-ship.

“Rob and I always talked about the possibility of go-ing to Purdue together,” Moore said. “We had inter-est from some of the same schools. We had a few con-versations about Purdue. We could see that each of us could help make the other better.

“We’ve never had a prob-lem with each other. If we would have a problem, we would communicate and help each other. We came in together. We just really wanted to leave together, too.”

Hummel is devastated by his second knee injury but wouldn’t trade the oppor-tunity he has had to play with Moore and Johnson.

“I saw we could play to-gether, and we had so much success in AAU,” Hummel said. “We played so well together and got along so well that we said, ‘Why not?’ That’s what has made us so successful. We’ve all been willing to share the shots.

“If we played on a lesser team, we all could shoot more, but that’s not what any of us really wanted. We want to win. I’m definitely thrilled that we all were able to come here. Me and E’Twaun were really good friends before this. Now all three of us have a special relationship.”

The Times of Northwest Indiana

E’Twaun Moore (from left), Robbie Hummel and former Boilermaker Scott Martin played on the same AAU team.



Jackson, Barlow will point the wayBy JEFF [email protected]

One is 6-foot-5. The oth-er is 5-9.

One is extremely quick. The other’s leaping ability is eye-opening.

One speaks slowly and selects his words carefully. The other loves to share his opinions.

Purdue point guards Kelsey Barlow — the tall one — and Lewis Jackson — the small one — bring contrasting dimensions to the offense and defense. However, the collective outcome usually is desir-able.

Jackson, who missed last season’s first 19 games because of a foot injury, re-turned in January to help produce a 13-3 record, in-cluding eight victories in his first eight games.

Barlow was a redshirt candidate until Jackson was injured just before the regular-season opener. Barlow made 11 starts at the point and was solid in a 14-game winning streak to begin the season.

Neither will play close to 40 minutes a game, but the two-man point guard ro-tation will create difficult adjustments for most op-ponents, Jackson said.

“If you look at Duke, Vil-lanova — any great program — they have great guards that complement each oth-er,” Jackson said.

“With Kelsey and me, we can add a dimension. It’s not just about knocking down shots. With the skills we both have, (point guard) can be something special for this team.”

For Barlow, last season was a period of adjustment. As a senior at Cathedral, Barlow played both guard positions and both forward slots.

“Last year, everything was new,” Barlow said. “Even though I have played the game for so long, this is a whole different level and a different kind of competi-tion.

“It’s nice having that be-hind me. I already know

what is up, so it’s going to be a strength this season.”

Coach Matt Painter said Barlow’s ability to step in when Jackson was injured filled a key void.

“Kelsey did a great job,” Painter said. “When we watched him in high school, we thought he re-ally fit with us. He gives us a high level of athleticism. He was on the all-freshman team from a team that won the league.

“You look at him, and he looks like a wing, but he is good with the basketball. He is a better on-the-ball defender than he is away from the ball. If he can make those improvements, he could be a shutdown guy on the wing.”

Jackson produced 55 as-sists and had only 15 turn-overs last season but had

just five steals in 309 min-utes. Jackson also intends to improve on his 2.4-point scoring average.

“I need to be more ag-gressive,” Jackson said. “With the seniors we have, those guys score the ball a lot. Sometimes in the past, I think I didn’t want to step on anyone’s toes.

“But now, if I take open shots when I’ve got them, that will make the defense respect me more. If they know I can score the ball, it will help (JaJuan Johnson and E’Twaun Moore) more. I can’t defer to them all the time. If I take my shot, those guys will know I’m doing what is best for the team. I still will get the ball to them.”

Barlow shot a respect-able 44.2 percent from the field, but a large percentage

of his 46 field goals were dunks or layups. He was 0-for-5 from 3-point range.

“I definitely have to make the open shots,” Barlow said. “Defensively, I have to get better off the ball and

play with the angles of the court. I have to guard bet-ter off the ball. I’m looking forward to doing that.”

Jackson and Barlow share a passion for playing defense.

“I think it’s where I’m from,” Jackson said. “Play-ing on TV night in and night out, I don’t want to be that guy that gets exposed. I don’t want people to say, ‘He is the weak link.’

“We take so much pride on not getting beat one-on-one. Coming here, there is so much defensive pride. I fit right in with trying to be aggressive.”

Jackson said his surgi-cally repaired foot feels good. Now his goal is to get his body in top shape.

Considering there is a more mature pulse to Bar-low’s game, Jackson knows he must match his taller teammate’s effort.

“Kelsey is coming in and taking shots, trying to play better,” Jackson said. “He is trying to learn the game.

“Him being around all these guys, he knows he has that potential. That may be the thing that woke him up. It stuck in his head.”

Painter is comfortable with Purdue’s point guard options.

“Any time you can have two quality guys like Lewis and Kelsey that have a high level of athleticism, you wear the other team’s point guard down,” Painter said. “I like that tandem.

“That doesn’t mean Kelsey Barlow doesn’t play other positions. Lewis has improved his shooting. We will see if that translates into games. You can’t play guys that can’t knock down a 17-footer.”


Junior Lewis Jackson (above) and sophomore Kelsey Barlow (left) are expected to share the point guard role.



By JEFF [email protected]

When Robbie Hummel suffered a season-ending right knee injury in the 27th game of Purdue’s 2009-10 season, the Boilermakers were plus-33 in rebound-ing.

In the eight games dur-ing which the 6-foot-8 Hummel was sidelined, opponents dominated the glass, outrebounding the Boilermakers by an average of 11 a game.

Now that Hummel is lost for the season with another knee injury, Purdue has dedicated itself to becom-ing a better rebounding team.

“We understand that we have to rebound the ball to beat teams,” sophomore guard/forward DJ Byrd said.

“We’ve taken it seriously, but this year, we really will focus on pursuing the ball offensively and defensively. We want to get to the right spot at the right time.”

That is something Mich-igan State does as well as any team in the nation.

Last season, the Fi-nal Four participant out-rebounded foes by 8.5 a game, leading the Big Ten in that category.

Junior forward Dray-mond Green, who averaged 7.7 rebounds a game, said the Spartans’ prowess on the boards is no accident.

“We focus on rebounding year in and year out,” Green said. “Rebounding is a key to winning. Sometimes

shots don’t fall. Sometimes you have turnovers. But you always can go to the boards.”

MSU coach Tom Izzo uses what is known as the “war drill” in each prac-tice. The drill, according to Green, sometimes draws blood.

“We do the ‘war drill’ for 10 or 15 minutes every day, even when we are doing a walkthrough,” Green said. “It gives us a mindset that we have to go to the boards every day. Even if I don’t get that rebound, I may get a deflection so that one of my teammates will get it.”

Green said if Purdue wants to improve its re-bounding, it has to develop a mindset.

“It has to be a collective thing,” Green said. “Coach Izzo makes sure the guards and the big men are re-bounding.

“Our coaches say that we need to gang rebound. That means having four or five players around the ball each time it comes off the rim.”

A key to improved re-bounding for the Boiler-makers could be 6-8, 229-pound sophomore forward Patrick Bade, who averaged only 1.6 boards last season.

Bade is bigger, stronger and healthier after shed-ding 20 pounds.

“It’s because of the way I worked in the offseason,” Bade said. “It all started with my diet. I started eat-ing healthier. I started run-ning a lot more. I’m in a lot better shape than I was

last year. I’m able to get up a little higher and be more athletic.”

When Bade arrived at Purdue, his menu — by choice — was limited.

“I was never really a junk-food guy, but I was all meat and potatoes,” Bade said. “Give me a steak, and I would be one happy camper. I’ve added fruit and salad. Before, I never ate salad.

“They say your taste buds change once you get to col-lege. I’ve learned to like more things. I’ve lost body fat, which has helped.”

By shedding body fat, Bade is better equipped to take the pounding that oc-curs in most Big Ten Con-ference games. He believes that will translate into more rebounds.

“I think I’m able to play more physical,” Bade said. “I’ve gotten acclimated to playing and have gotten the jitters out. I’ve also learned how to play physical with-out fouling.

“That was one of the big-gest problems last year for all the freshmen. We were trying to play physical, but we kept fouling.”

Boilermaker center JaJuan Johnson, who av-eraged a team-best 7.1 re-bounds last season, has no-ticed Bade’s improvement.

“He definitely made a lot of strides this summer,” Johnson said. “Especially with his body, he is in a lot better shape. He has a grasp of what is going on.

“He has slowed down and gotten into the swing of things. I went through

it. Pat definitely has come along.”

Johnson would like to average 15 or 20 rebounds a game. He knows that’s al-most impossible.

Like coach Matt Painter, Johnson is eager to see if Bade, freshman center Travis Carroll and redshirt freshman center Sandi Marcius collectively help Purdue compensate for the loss of Hummel’s rebound-ing skills.

“That’s going to be really important,” Johnson said. “It starts in practice. We have to challenge each oth-er and make each other go a little harder. It’s definitely a mindset thing.

“I’m making more of a conscious effort to really get at the glass and be more physical and embrace all that comes with rebound-ing. I especially can push those other guys to improve in that area.”

Because Bade, Carroll and Marcius understand how important rebound-ing is to Purdue’s success, Painter anticipates great practice battles.

“That’s part of the healthy competition,” Painter said. “We need a guy to come off the bench on that front line and rebound consistently and be physical.

Carroll and Marcius “can kind of be those old-school, Big Ten-type posts. They can be bangers and just play that role. The last two years, our (NCAA tournament) exits have been teams that just dominated us on the glass.”

Photos by Michael Heinz/Journal & Courier

Sophomore Patrick Bade (left) and redshirt freshman Sandi Marcius (right) — who missed last season with a foot injury — will be counted on to improve Purdue’s rebounding.

Boilers aim to clear the glassRebounding meltdownIn the eight games Purdue played last season after

Robbie Hummel’s season-ending knee injury, the Boiler-makers were outrebounded by an average of 11 per game (41.5-30.5): Opponent PurdueMichigan State 46 20Indiana 36 28Penn State 29 30Northwestern 33 36Minnesota 50 26Siena 45 38Texas A&M 45 39Duke 48 27Totals 332 244

Purdue was 5-3 in the eight games without Hummel.

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If they were musicians, the Purdue trio of Ryne Smith, John Hart and DJ Byrd could be known as “The Missing Pieces.”

Junior guard Smith, redshirt sophomore guard Hart and sophomore guard/forward Byrd each could play his way into the starting lineup.

Or, each could be a valu-able off-the-bench con-tributor, providing scoring, defense and rebounding.

Byrd, the former North Montgomery standout, av-eraged 6.5 points during the postseason after aver-aging only 2.6 overall.

“We’ve got more guys this season,” Byrd said of the competition for playing time. “We have more talent. That’s why it is so competi-tive. Everyone will have to play hard. That’s when you determine playing time.

“I think I’m better just in understanding the game. During my freshman year, I learned a lot about un-derstanding the game. That’s what I took out of it. I learned when to drive, when to make the right pass and when to shoot. I’m still learning. Learning every day and trying to get better is a big thing.”

Smith also averaged 2.6 points. He started a Janu-ary victory at Illinois and made a pair of 3-pointers in an NCAA tournament vic-tory against Siena.

With Robbie Hummel sidelined for the season, Smith said he, Byrd and Hart must be more versa-tile than ever.

“The roles change a little bit,” Smith said. “When you lose a guy like Rob, you can’t really replace a guy that is that good. We have to step up and be more consistent than we were last year.

“We hit a lull in the mid-dle of the season. We got a little comfortable with how we were playing when we were 14-0. We can’t let that happen. We have to stay on edge.”

For Smith, scoring can’t be the ultimate goal, al-though he is known as a gifted 3-point shooter.

“The main thing is being able to defend and being able to rebound, especially having a 6-8 guy taken out of our mix,” Smith said.

“We have to make sure we get on the glass.”

Hart, who hadn’t played in almost a month when he came off the bench at Illi-nois to score a career-best 14 points, is eager to fill in wherever and whenever he is needed.

“With Rob being out, there are hard shoes to fill,” Hart said. “The most im-portant thing is rebound-ing. If me, Ryne and DJ come out and play defense and rebound, we should be pretty good.”

Hart said the trio that includes Byrd and Smith gives coach Matt Painter different options.

“Ryne is a sharpshooter,” Hart said. “DJ can play de-fense real well. I can shoot pretty well, too. So can DJ. The three of us can fill dif-ferent positions.

“Us having three differ-ent players for a position is real good. We each bring different things to the table on any given night.”

Painter likes not only the versatility Hart, Byrd and Smith bring but also the experience of playing in big games.

“Ryne Smith and John Hart have been in our program for three years,” Painter said. “They under-stand the best.

“Terone Johnson and Anthony Johnson will give us athleticism at that spot,

but they are freshmen.”Painter is eager to watch

the competitive fire with which he hopes Byrd, Smith and Hart play in practice and in games.

“Obviously, we have some established seniors,” Painter said. Referring to members of the media, he said, “You have questions

about those other pieces. You asked me a lot of ques-tions, and I have the same questions.

“It comes out through time. Once you get into the games, you really can see who has made strides in the summer and who can do it when the popcorn is turning.”

Trio gives Painter lots of options on perimeterPhotos by Michael Heinz/Journal & Courier

DJ Byrd (left) came on strong at the end of last season, averaging 6.5 points in the postseason. John Hart (right) will be counted on for his versatility.


Ryne Smith is a gifted shooter from 3-point range.

2009-10 Big Ten standingsPurdue 14-4 29-6Ohio State 14-4 29-8Michigan State 14-4 28-9Wisconsin 13-5 24-9Illinois 10-8 21-15Minnesota 9-9 21-14Northwestern 7-11 20-14Michigan 7-11 15-17Indiana 4-14 10-21Iowa 4-14 10-22Penn State 3-15 11-20

Big Ten tournamentFirst round

Michigan 59, Iowa 52Northwestern 73, Indiana 58Minnesota 76, Penn State 55

QuarterfinalsOhio State 69, Michigan 68Illinois 58, Wisconsin 54Purdue 69, Northwestern 61Minnesota 72, Michigan State 67 (OT)

SemifinalsOhio State 88, Illinois 81 (2OT)Minnesota 69, Purdue 42

ChampionshipOhio State 90, Minnesota 61

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There’s nothing shy about the Purdue basket-ball team’s freshman class.

Terone Johnson and Anthony Johnson are state championship-winning shooting guards, and 6-foot-10 center Travis Car-roll has an aggressive ap-proach to offense.

“I definitely feel ready,” said Terone Johnson, who led Indianapolis North Central to Indiana’s 2010 Class 4A state title. “Part of my decision to come here was to come in and be ready to play.

“I just have to learn a lot of things, which is easy from the three seniors we have. The transition defi-nitely is defensively. In high school, we played de-fense a lot different than what we play now. There’s a lot more things I have to do now.”

North Central coach Doug Mitchell, who appre-ciates tenacious defense, told Johnson if he selected Purdue he would be re-quired to focus on stopping the opponent.

“In high school, defense was about taking care of just your man,” Johnson said. “If you’ve got the man in front of you, you guard him. Here, we help each other. We have to be on our line in order to help each other.

“Coach Mitchell defi-nitely helped prepare me defensively. He would make me guard the best player on each team every game. I think that helped me a lot.”

Selected the Indianapo-lis Star’s Super Team and Marion County Player of the Year in each of the past two years, Johnson under-stands he must let the game come to him.

“Our offense is equal chance,” said Johnson, who averaged 21.5 points as a senior. “You have a drive, or you don’t. You have a cut,

or you don’t. “We have the two main

scorers in JaJuan Johnson and E’Twaun Moore, but other than that, there are chances.”

Junior guard Ryne Smith has been impressed with each of the three freshmen.

“Terone has been great,” Smith said. “This whole freshman class is the best since I’ve been here, in-cluding my class. They’ve all worked hard through conditioning and through the first few weeks of prac-tice.

“Terone is a great scorer. He has a lot to learn defen-sively, but he is going to do that. He is going to be good for us this season.”

Coach Matt Painter likes Terone Johnson’s variety of skills but is seeking im-proved offensive decision-making.

“Terone is a talented guard,” Painter said. “He can score in a lot of differ-ent ways. He has to under-stand when he has angles and numbers and when he doesn’t.

“It’s something he has to work through. He has that crow hop into that shovel (shot) that E’Twaun has. That’s what he has to use when a defense is set.”

Rivals.com’s No. 25 shooting guard nationally in the high class of 2010, Anthony Johnson led Chi-cago Whitney Young to Illinois’ big-school state championship in 2009 and to a second-place finish last season.

“For me, the biggest dif-ference from high school is the intensity,” he said. “In high school, it wasn’t as in-tense every hour, every day. Even in watching film, it wasn’t as intense. Now you can’t take any days off.

“From a defensive stand-point, I have to adjust to playing off the ball. I’m OK on the ball, but off the ball, I’m trying to get the hang of things. In high school, I was glued to my man. I have to learn when to get

into my guy and when to slip through a pick. It’s a huge transition here.”

Painter likes Johnson’s potential to provide instant offense.

“Anthony is a talented kid that can score the bas-ketball,” Painter said. “He has been taking contested shots.

“That’s what he is going to have to work on in terms of the shot clock and who he is with out on the court. Sometimes, he will get more freedom. He also has the ability to rebound.”

Johnson is eager to pro-vide scoring off the bench.

“I have no fear. Coach Painter recruited me know-ing that I am a scorer. It’s something I do well. He wants me to be aggressive. I can’t be timid or scared.”

Carroll averaged 19.6 points in leading Danville to the No. 1 ranking in Class 3A and the second regional title in school history.

He is a big man who can face the basket and score with a soft jumper.

“The coaches are always telling me to keep working on that shot,” Carroll said. “That’s something we don’t

have that I do have. It gives me another weapon.”

Carroll reported to school weighing 247 pounds. He is

down to 230.“I was trying to gain

weight, and I gained too

much too quick,” Carroll said. “When I lost it all, I felt like I was moving a lot better. Now I’m in the weight room trying to gain good weight.”

Like his classmates, Car-roll is attempting to become a better defender.

“The big adjustment has been defense,” Carroll said. “In high school, I was big-ger than everybody. I didn’t have to focus on defense as much. Now that I’m here, coach Painter focuses on defense. That’s something that wins games in the Big Ten.

“There’s always things I can improve, but I feel like I’m ready. I feel the coach-es have done a good job get-ting me ready. JaJuan and Rob (Hummel) have really helped me. I try to keep im-proving every day.”

Painter wants to see Car-roll assert his size.

“Travis has to learn to use his body more,” Painter said. “He is a physical guy. He is a jump shooter at this point in his career.

“He has to keep angles in the post. We need him to be as physical as possible, be a rebounder and make smart plays on the offensive end.”

Photos by Michael Heinz/Journal & Courier

Terone Johnson (left) led Indianapolis North Central to a state championship last season. Anthony Johnson (right) led Chicago’s Whitney Young to a state title as a junior.


Travis Carroll has a jump shot to go with his inside game.

Thingsyoudidn’t know aboutTravisCarroll:

1. My favorite bas-ketball player is Dirk Nowitzki of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks.

2. My favorite Xbox game is NBA 2K11.

3. My favorite actor is Will Ferrell.

4. My favorite vacation spot is Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

5. My favorite food is lasagna.

5

1. I’m a good rapper. I love Lil Wayne.2. I play a lot of NBA 2K11, but I only play with Michael

Jordan or LeBron James. 3. I like cars, especially new cars. My favorite is a Bugatti.

It’s like a $1.7 million car. 4. I love to eat my mom’s cooking, especially her lasagna. 5. I like watching professional boxing, just because it’s

crazy how long they can stay in the ring. They get tired, but they’re still in there punching. My favorite is Floyd May-weather.

5Things you didn’t know about Terone Johnson:

1. I wore jersey No. 24 in high school because my favorite basketball player has been Kobe Bryant.

2. When I’m home, I look forward to sitting down for some of my dad’s homemade tacos. I just love them.

3. I enjoy cartoons. My favorite is Family Guy.4. I’m a shoe freak. I probably have more than 100

pairs. I have all different kinds, but mostly the sporty stuff — Jordan’s, retros.

5. I pray before every game. It’s something I’ve been do-ing since high school.

5Things you didn’t know about Anthony Johnson:

Talented freshmen will contributeJohnsons give backcourt a boost; Carroll should help beef up inside game

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Height: 6-4Weight: 191Pos: GuardYear: SeniorHometown: East ChicagoHometown: East ChicagoLast season: Started all 35 games

... averaged team-high 16.4 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.5 assists ... also had team-high 93 assists

Career highs: 28 points vs. Northwestern on Feb. 19, 2008 and March 12, 2010 ... 11 rebounds vs. Northwest-ern on Jan. 15, 2009 ... 7 assists vs. Boston College on Nov. 26, 2008

Major: Organizational leadership and supervision

No. 33 E’Twaun Moore

Height: 6-3Weight: 175Pos: GuardYear: FreshmanHometown: ChicagoHigh school: Whitney YoungIn high school: Averaged 16.8 points,

7.9 rebounds and 3.5 assists during his senior season at Whitney Young, which finished 23-7


No. 1 Anthony Johnson

Height: 6-0Weight: 185Pos: GuardYear: JuniorHometown: West LafayetteHigh School: West LafayetteLast season: Played in seven games

... averaged 0.4 pointsCareer highs: 3 points vs. Buffalo on

Dec. 5, 2009Major: Management

No. 2 Bubba Day

Height: 6-0Weight: 175Pos: GuardYear: SophomoreHometown: West LafayetteHigh School: Central CatholicLast season: Played in eight games ...

averaged 0.5 points and 0.3 reboundsCareer highs: 2 points vs. Cal State

Northridge on Nov. 13, 2009, and vs. Buffalo on Dec. 5, 2009 ... 1 rebound vs. St. Joseph’s on Nov. 22, 2009, and vs. Minnesota on March 13, 2010.

Major: Management

No. 14 Dru Anthrop

Height: 6-8Weight: 229Pos: ForwardYear: SophomoreHometown: IndianapolisHigh School: Franklin CentralLast season: Played in all 35 games,

started 1 ... averaged 1.5 points and 1.6 rebounds in 7.3 minutes

Career highs: 10 points vs. SIU-Edwardsville on Dec. 22, 2009 ... 9 rebounds vs. Cal State Northridge on Nov. 13, 2009.

Major: Industrial management

No. 41 Patrick BadeHeight: 6-5Weight: 193Pos: GuardYear: SophomoreHometown: IndianapolisHigh School: CathedralLast season: Played in all 35 games,

started 11 ... averaged 3.4 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 16.0 minutes

Career highs: 12 points vs. Illinois on Jan. 19, 2010 ... 8 rebounds vs. Buffalo on Dec. 5, 2009 ... 6 assists vs. Buffalo on Dec. 5, 2009

Major: Communications

No. 12 Kelsey Barlow

Height: 6-5Weight: 225Pos: Guard/forwardYear: SophomoreHometown: CrawfordsvilleHigh School: North MontgomeryLast season: Played in 29 games ...

averaged 2.6 points, 0.8 rebounds in 9.4 minutes

Career highs: 13 points vs. Cal State Northridge on Nov. 13, 2009 ... 6 rebounds vs. South Dakota State on Nov. 20, 2009


No. 21 DJ Byrd

Height: 6-2Weight: 196Pos: GuardYear: SophomoreHometown: Beech GroveHigh School: Beech GroveLast season: Played in 24 games ...

averaged 2.4 points, 1.0 rebounds in 10.3 minutes

Career highs: 14 points vs. Illinois on Jan. 19, 2010 ... 3 rebounds vs. Indiana on Feb. 4, 2010, and vs. Minne-sota on Feb. 24, 2010


No. 32 John Hart

Height: 6-8Weight: 228Pos: ForwardYear: SeniorHometown: ValparaisoHigh School: ValparaisoLast season: Started 27 games be-

fore suffering season-ending knee injury ... averaged 15.7 points, 6.9 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.0 blocks

Career highs: 35 points vs. Ohio State on Jan. 12, 2010 ... 14 rebounds vs. Davidson Dec. 20, 2008 ... 7 assists vs. Ball State on Dec. 5, 2007

Major: Management

No. 4 Robbie Hummel

Height: 5-9Weight: 165Pos: GuardYear: JuniorHometown: Decatur, Ill.High School: EisenhowerLast season: Played in 16 games,

started 7 ... averaged 2.4 points, 2.5 rebounds and 3.4 assists ... missed first 19 games after injuring foot in preseason practice

Career highs: 12 points vs. Minnesota on Jan. 22, 2009, and vs. Illinois on Feb. 8, 2009 ... 6 rebounds vs. Illinois on Feb. 8, 2009, vs. Michigan State on Feb. 17, 2009, and vs. Siena on March 19, 2010 ... 9 assists vs. Ohio State on Feb. 3, 2009, and vs. Siena on March 19, 2010


No. 23 Lewis Jackson

Height: 6-3Weight: 190Pos: GuardYear: JuniorHometown: Toledo, OhioHigh School: WhitmerLast season: Played in 31 games,

started 1 ... averaged 2.6 points and 1.0 rebounds in 12.2 minutes

Career highs: 16 points vs. St. Joseph’s on Nov. 22, 2009 ... 4 rebounds vs. Buffalo on Dec. 5, 2009 and vs. West Virginia on Jan. 1, 2010

Major: Communications

No. 24 Ryne SmithHeight: 6-2Weight: 211Pos: GuardYear: FreshmanHometown: IndianapolisHigh School: North CentralIn high school: Averaged 21.5 points,

4.1 rebounds and 3.0 assists during his senior season at North Central, which finished 25-3 and won the Class 4A state champion-ship


No. 0 Terone Johnson

Height: 6-9Weight: 230Pos: ForwardYear: FreshmanHometown: DanvilleHigh School: DanvilleIn high school: Averaged 19.6 points,

12.0 rebounds and 1.6 blocks during his senior season at Danville, which finished 25-2


No. 50 Travis Carroll

Height: 6-9Weight: 257Pos: ForwardYear: FreshmanHometown: Nedelisce, CroatiaHigh School: La LumiereLast season: Redshirted after injuring

his foot in preseason practiceIn high school: Averaged 15 points, 15

rebounds and 7.0 blocks during his senior season at La Lumiere, which finished 14-5 in 2009

Major: Engineering

No. 55 Sandi Marcius

Height: 6-10Weight: 221Pos: Forward/centerYear: SeniorHometown: IndianapolisHigh School: Franklin CentralLast season: Played in all 35 games,

started 34 ... averaged 15.5 points, team-high 7.1 rebounds and 2.1 blocks

Career highs: 30 points vs. Ohio State on Feb. 3, 2009 ... 15 rebounds vs. Illinois on Dec. 30, 2008, and vs. Siena on March 19, 2010 ... 7 blocks vs. Northwest-ern on Jan. 15, 2009, and vs. Siena on March 19, 2010


No. 25 JaJuan Johnson


Age: 40Hometown: MuncieHigh School: DeltaCollege: Purdue (1989-93)Hired at Purdue: April 9, 2004, as associate head

coach under Gene Keady. Became head coach on April 1, 2005.

Record at Purdue: 112-56 (five seasons)Overall record: 137-61 (six seasons)

Painter at PurdueYear Overall Big Ten NCAA tournament2005-06 9-19 3-13 (11th) —2006-07 22-12 9-7 (4th) 2nd round2007-08 25-9 15-3 (2nd) 2nd round2008-09 27-10 11-7 (2nd) Sweet 162009-10 29-6 14-4 (1st) Sweet 16Totals 112-56 52-34

Coaching experience1993-94 — Assistant coach at Washington & Jef-

ferson1994-95 — Assistant coach at Barton College1995-98 — Assistant coach at Eastern Illinois1998-2003 — Assistant coach at Southern Illinois2003-04 — Head coach at Southern Illinois2004-05 — Associate head coach at Purdue2005-present — Head coach at Purdue

Coach Matt Painter



Boilers will enjoy success considering limitationsTwo potential pros. A

gritty passion for playing defense. Depth and versa-tility at the all-important point guard position.

At first glance, this looks like a strong foundation for a Purdue men’s basketball team that should compete for a Big Ten Conference championship and a deep NCAA tournament run.

Problem is, the player who, as coach Matt Painter likes to say “completes us,” will be watching from the sidelines as the Boilermak-ers redefine themselves without Robbie Hummel.

Until the morning of Oct. 16, this was the season — the year Purdue fans anticipated a Final Four trip for the first time since 1980, when center Joe Barry Carroll was the main man.

During Purdue’s second practice, while participat-ing in a basic defensive drill, Hummel tore his right anterior cruciate liga-ment for the second time in eight months.

With JaJuan Johnson and E’Twaun Moore, Hummel gave the Boiler-makers the necessary ele-ments to play in Houston’s Reliant Stadium during the first week in April.

Former Purdue coach Gene Keady often said a Final Four team really needs three players with professional ability. In Johnson, Moore and Hum-mel, Painter had three pros and a strong supporting cast.

With Lewis Jackson and

Kelsey Barlow, Purdue has a nice platoon system at the point.

The Boilermakers’ willingness to play man-to-man defense will keep it in most games.

This remains an excel-lent basketball team, one certainly capable of at least 24 or 25 regular-season victories and the potential to advance through the first weekend of the NCAA tournament.

However, without Hum-mel, the Boilermakers have several notable flaws.

When Hummel was sidelined last season with a torn ACL, Purdue was 24-3. After his season ended, the Boilermakers went 5-3.

Hummel’s presence creates nearly perfect offensive spacing and is a

defensive nightmare for opponents.

With Hummel on the floor, Moore and Johnson get all kinds of open looks at the basket.

Without him on the floor, defenses will attempt to make life miserable for Moore and Johnson, likely daring Jackson, Barlow, Patrick Bade and others to beat them.

Ryne Smith, DJ Byrd, John Hart, Terone John-son and Anthony Johnson will need to be produc-tive offensively if Purdue has any hope of replacing Hummel’s versatility.

The Hummel injury also raises a red flag in rebounding. He missed the final eight games last season and the Boilermak-ers were outrebounded six times. Michigan State pounded Purdue 46-20 on the glass in the first game without Hummel.

Expecting Bade, fresh-man center Travis Carroll and redshirt freshman Sandi Marcius to pick up the rebounding void may be asking too much, espe-cially against quicker, more athletic big men.

If Purdue is consistently outrebounded, its man-to-man defense must produce more turnovers to make up for the possessions lost in rebounding.

Because so much atten-tion has been centered on the Hummel injury, it’s easy to overlook how much Purdue will miss Chris Kramer and the pure will to win he provided every time he slipped into a uniform.

As Painter said recently, no one in college bas-ketball last season was a Kramer clone. Not even close.

In a regular-season victory at Alabama, and in an NCAA tournament second-round victory against Texas A&M, it was

Kramer — not Hummel, Moore or Johnson — who put his team on his back and refused to lose.

There’s no Chris Kramer on this Purdue team, or on any roster in America, frankly.

With a relatively easy non-conference schedule — dates at Virginia Tech and West Virginia will be tough — it may be late January before we learn how good this team can be.

Don’t get me wrong. It is a very good team. Most years, Purdue fans would be more than thrilled with

its potential.But when most fans’

motto was “Final Four or Bust,” moving in that direction will be difficult without the man who can no longer complete this team.

Washburn covers Purdue men’s basketball for the Journal & Courier. He can be reached via e-mail at [email protected] or follow him at twitter.com/JeffWashburnJC

ColumnistJeff Washburn

◆◆◆

Chicago Sun-Times preseason poll

Compiled by college basketball writer Herb Gould, the Chicago Sun-Times polled one beat writer from each the Big Ten’s 11 men’s basketball programs. Here is their predicted order of finish:

1. Michigan State2. Ohio State3. Illinois4. Purdue5. WisconsinT6. MinnesotaT6. Northwestern8. Indiana9. Penn State10. Michigan11. Iowa



MICHIGAN STATE2009-2010 — 28-9 (lost to Butler 52-

50 in the NCAA tournament Final Four semifinals).

Big Ten finish — 14-4, tied for first with Ohio State and Purdue.

Returning starters — Ka-lin Lucas (senior guard), Durrell Sum-mers (senior guard), Delvon Roe (junior forward).

Top newcomer — Keith Appling (fresh-man guard).

Strengths — Under coach Tom Izzo, the Spartans have made six Final Four appear-ances in 12 seasons and almost always play their best at season’s end. They have a Big Ten Player of the Year candidate in Lucas and are one of the best rebounding teams in Division I, let alone the Big Ten.

Weaknesses — While they are few and far between, MSU does have flaws, in-cluding free throw shooting. The Spartans shot only 68.5 percent from the line. MSU also had more turnovers (514) than its opponents (459) last season.

Outlook — With three returning starters and super sixth-man Draymond Green, Izzo’s Spartans will enter the Big Ten season as the team to beat.

ILLINOIS2009-2010 — 21-15 (lost to Dayton 77-

71 in the NIT’s third round).Big Ten finish — 10-8,

fifth.Returning starters

— Mike Davis (senior for-ward), Bill Cole (senior for-ward), Mike Tisdale (senior center), D.J. Richardson (sophomore guard), Demetri McCamey (senior guard).

Top newcomer — Jereme Richmond (freshman forward).

Strengths — Illinois returns the top seven players from last season, including 89.4 percent of its points, 79 percent of its rebounds and 85 percent of its minutes played. McCamey is the nation’s leading returning assist man (7.0 avg.), and Davis led the Big Ten in rebounding (9.2).

Weaknesses — The Illini struggled to stop anyone last season, which led to a 4-7 finish, including missing the NCAA tournament. McCamey also struggles with consistency.

Outlook — If experience is enough, Illinois could challenge Michigan State, Ohio State and Purdue. The Illini could be an excellent rebounding team if Tisdale and Davis play to their potential.

OHIO STATE2009-2010 — 29-8 (lost to Tennessee

76-73 in the NCAA tourna-ment Sweet Sixteen).

Big Ten finish — 14-4, tied for first with Michigan State and Purdue.

Returning starters — David Lighty (senior forward), Dal-las Lauderdale (senior center), William Buford (junior guard), Jon Diebler (senior guard)

Top newcomer — Jared Sullinger (freshman forward).

Strengths — The Buckeyes can shoot the basketball, led by Diebler, who made 116 shots from 3-point range last season, converting 42 percent of his long-distance shots. Buford is the leading returning scorer at 14.4. Ohio State shot 49.2 per-cent from the field last season, including 39 percent from beyond the arc.

Weaknesses — Ohio State averaged only 33.4 rebounds last season.

Outlook — While Evan Turner by-passed his senior year for the NBA, Ohio State still is loaded and has a terrific freshman class, led by Sullinger. If any-body can jump past Michigan State, it’s probably the Buckeyes — if they rebound.

PURDUE2009-2010 — 29-6 (lost to national

champion Duke 70-57 in the NCAA tournament Sweet Sixteen).

Big Ten finish — 14-4, tied for first with Michi-gan State and Ohio State.

Returning starters — JaJuan Johnson (senior center/forward), E’Twaun Moore (senior guard), Lewis Jackson (junior guard).

Top newcomer — Terone Johnson (freshman guard).

Strengths — In JaJuan Johnson and Moore, Purdue has two Preseason All-Big Ten first-team selections who have helped the Boilermakers average 27 victories in their first three seasons. The Boilermakers are deep at point guard.

Weaknesses — With Robbie Hum-mel sidelined for the season, Purdue may struggle to be a consistent rebounding team.

Outlook — Without Hummel, it will be difficult for Purdue to catch Michigan State and Ohio State, but if the Boiler-maker big men help JaJuan Johnson, third place in the Big Ten is a realistic goal, pos-sibly second if everything falls into place.

A look at the four teams favored to win the Big Ten

Big Ten analysts warn against counting out PurdueBy JEFF [email protected]

Pride and culture.According to ESPN col-

lege basketball analyst Dan Dakich, those intangibles — along with standout se-niors JaJuan Johnson and E’Twaun Moore — will give 14th-ranked Purdue a re-alistic opportunity to win the Big Ten regular-season championship.

Dakich, a former Indi-ana University player who coached at Bowling Green and IU, won’t count the Boilermakers out despite losing 6-foot-8 forward Robbie Hummel with a season-ending knee injury.

Second-ranked Michigan State, fourth-ranked Ohio State and No. 13 Illinois, along with Purdue, give the Big Ten a power base simi-lar to the early 1990s.

During that era, Michi-gan featured the so-called Fab Five. Purdue had Glenn Robinson, Ohio State had Jimmy Jackson, Michigan State had Shawn Respert and Steve Smith, and IU had Damon Bailey and Cal-bert Cheaney.

“I went to a Purdue prac-tice recently, and the thing I always talk about is culture and pride,” Dakich said. “The culture of Purdue right now is pride.

“At Purdue it’s, ‘I’m here because I’m a good player, but I’m also here because I’m a tough guy, and I buy in.’ ”

With Hummel sidelined, sophomore DJ Byrd, ac-cording to Dakich, becomes an extremely important piece in Purdue’s quest for a Big Ten title.

“When you run a mo-tion offense, the No. 1 guy in that offense is a versatile (power forward) who you can do things with,” Dakich said. “It’s first and foremost what you recruit to. Not having Robbie is huge from that standpoint.

“So, who can replace that? DJ can replace that versatility. Is he as good? No. But he can maintain the comfort level of JaJuan Johnson and E’Twaun Moore in that offense be-cause the (power forward) is the guy that creates the comfort level.”

As Dakich looks at Purdue, he has two other areas of concern.

“Rebounding was a con-cern two years ago when they had everybody. The other concern is who re-places Chris Kramer?”

Jackson, now a member of the Big Ten Network’s team of analysts, believes Purdue will be in the title hunt because of Johnson

and Moore.“The best thing about

the Big Ten this season is that you have juniors and seniors who have been around,” Jackson said. “You have that experience there. There are one and out col-lege players, but the Big Ten’s core group is back.”

Stephen Bardo, a Big Ten Network analyst who played at Illinois, agrees that Michigan State, Ohio State, Illinois and Purdue should lead the way, but he also likes Wisconsin, Min-nesota and Northwestern.

“You’re looking at seven teams that probably should be a lock, including North-western, for the NCAA tournament,” Bardo said.

“Michigan (Manny Har-ris) is the only school that lost a lot of scoring and depth, except for Evan Turner at Ohio State. When you look at the depth and the coaching in the confer-ence, it’s tremendous.”

Big Ten Network broad-caster Shon Morris, who played at Northwestern, said it’s no accident the Big Ten is loaded.

“You can go on down the line with teams, and they have experience,” Morris said. “Everyone has blem-ishes, but the league is very good and very deep.

“It’s going to be the team

that can go on the road and win a couple of games that is the difference between finishing first or fourth.”

Because it has Moore, Dakich believes Purdue is one of those teams that may be able to go on the road and win big games.

The Boilermakers were 7-2 last season in Big Ten

road games, winning at Indiana, Illinois, Michi-gan State, Ohio State, Penn State, Minnesota and Iowa.

“E’Twaun Moore — with less than five minutes left in the game — is the best bas-ketball player in the coun-try,” Dakich said. “That’s great. JaJuan Johnson’s jumpshot looks great.

“But when you are in a battle like they are going to be in the Big Ten, who is going to be the guy that is going to be really, re-ally tough on the defensive end? Who is going to make the right decisions in tran-sition? That’s where Byrd and Kelsey Barlow have to bring what they have.”

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