5 Interesting Questions for Purdue Basketball This Summer
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Believe it or not, the balls are going to start bouncing on Cardinal Court soon. With the calendar soon flipping to June, Purdue is preparing for summer workouts and practices, the unofficial beginning of a new college basketball season.
There are plenty of questions the Boilermakers are facing entering the 2026-27 season, especially with so much of last year's production gone. What are some of the most intriguing questions heading into a new year?
Here are a few that stand out with summer practices just around the corner.
How will the battle for the starting point guard play out?
This might be the most interesting position battle heading into the 2026-27 season in West Lafayette. When Omer Mayer joined the program last summer, there was an assumption that he would carry the torch at point guard when Braden Smith left. That could still be the case, but he's going to have a challenge when incoming freshman Luke Ertel gets to campus.
Ertel was Indiana's Mr. Basketball and is coming off a year at Mt. Vernon in which he averaged 24.5 points, 9.9 rebounds and 6.6 assists per game. Coach Matt Painter has said that the Indiana product "looks ready" to play at the college level, indicating that he has a chance to earn significant playing time in his freshman season.
Mayer will be at his natural position, though, and showed flashes of his potential during the 2025-26 campaign. What is his ceiling with more playing time at the lead guard spot?
Regardless of how this position battle plays out, Purdue is in excellent shape with two extremely talented point guards.
What type of role will Gicarri Harris have?
After coming off the bench the last two seasons, Harris now has an opportunity to carve out a starting job for himself. Will he be able to win one of those jobs? Or, will he continue to play a role as a sixth man for the Boilermakers in his junior season?
Harris had an interesting sophomore year, producing at a more efficient clip on the road than at home. He averaged 5.7 points and shot 40.5% from three-point range in road games and averaged 4.0 points and shot just 29.5% behind the arc in games at Mackey Arena.
Harris has been a solid defensive player around the perimeter, but Purdue needs him to be more consistent on both ends of the floor. He has the potential to be in the starting rotation if he develops that steadiness. Maybe that naturally comes with more minutes, too.
Does Daniel Jacobsen make the "sophomore" leap?
Yes, technically, last season was Jacobsen's second with the program, but it was his first full season of college basketball. He enjoyed some major highs — which included making a school-record 21 consecutive field goals — and also experienced some lows.
Jacobsen seemed to wear down late in the year, which resulted in fewer minutes, especially in the final month of the season. Adding strength in the weight room is a necessity for the 7-foot-4 center, as well as learning to embrace the physicality of the Big Ten.
Painter has spoken highly of Jacobsen this offseason, saying he believes that good things are coming for the center. His improvement this offseason would provide some stability for the Boilermakers at the center position, especially with Oscar Cluff gone.
How quickly can Caden Pierce get adjusted?
Pierce is a former Ivy League Player of the Year and brings good athleticism and a physical rebounding presence with him to West Lafayette. He has a high basketball acumen and can be the senior leader the Boilermakers need heading into a new season.
The one concern, though, is that Pierce hasn't played since the 2024-25 season. He sat out last year, choosing to redshirt and fully recover from injury. That allowed him to commit to Purdue last winter during the season.
How long will it take Pierce to get into basketball shape? Will he be ready to go on Day 1? Or is it going to take him a little bit longer to get the proper conditioning? There's no question Pierce will play a significant role for this team, but could it take a little longer than anticipated?
Is Antione West Jr. ready for a major role?
This has already been mentioned several times in several other stories, but Smith went on record and said he believes West will be Purdue's leading scorer this season. Is a redshirt freshman ready for that type of role?
West used his redshirt year to improve every aspect of his game. He grew as a perimeter and off-ball defender, he regularly knocked down shots as part of the scout team and improved his strength in the weight room.
Rather than mope about redshirting last season, West used it as an opportunity to become a better basketball player. Does that mean he's ready for a major role for the Boilermakers? Will he be a starter or play a role off the bench? There are several questions about how the redshirt freshman can help Purdue this year.
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Dustin Schutte is the publisher of Purdue Boilermakers on SI and has spent more than a decade working in sports journalism. His career began in 2013, when he covered Big Ten football. He remained in that role for eight years before working at On SI to cover the Boilermakers. Dustin graduated from Manchester University in Indiana in 2010, where he played for the men's tennis team.
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