Key Quotes From Matt Painter After Purdue's First Open Practice of Fall
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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Practice is in full swing in West Lafayette, as Purdue returned to the hardwood on Tuesday for the first official practice for the 2026-27 campaign. The Boilermakers are starting a new chapter, and there are plenty of questions heading into a fresh season.
Cardinal Court was open to the media on Friday to watch practice. Afterwards, Purdue head coach Matt Painter answered questions from reporters about the early stages of the season, player development and plenty more.
Let's dive into some of the key comments from Painter following Friday's practice.
Still working through Enzo Shahrvin's situation
This remains a major talking point in West Lafayette. Although Enzo Shahrvin arrived in West Lafayette in July and committed to the program earlier, there's still no update on his status from the NCAA.
"Still working, still waiting," Painter said on Friday. "Hopefully, in the next couple weeks we'll know. Our first game is Nov. 2, so I would think that's a big piece for [the NCAA]. We would like to have that earlier."
Shahrvin provides Purdue with a stronger body in the post, an athletic player who can rebound and serve as a lob threat offensively. Painter appreciates the physicality he brings to the floor and how he can help the Boilers in the post.
Antione West Jr. makes a big jump
Although it wasn't in a college game, Antione West Jr.'s performance in Canada impressed everyone who watched. He showed off his ability to score from all three levels offensively, as well as his tough on-ball defense on the other end of the court.
West made the most of his redshirt season and is expected to make a huge impact for Purdue this season.
"He knows what he's doing. He's been through it," Painter said. "I think when you first start, a lot of guys who are really talented have tough freshmen years. For him, he redshirted, he put a lot of time in, competed in practice. He's just a really good two-way player. He can score, he can break you down, he's a very good on-ball defender. He's going to play a lot."
During last season, former Purdue guard Braden Smith predicted that West would be the team's leading scorer. He's more than capable of filling that role this year.
No roles have been defined yet
For the past three seasons, Purdue has had a good understanding of which players would fill specific roles. That's not the case in West Lafayette right now.
The Boilermakers are still working through that at this early stage in the year. The trip to Canada helped Purdue identify some things, but Painter says the competition remains fierce at this point in the offseason.
"I don't say anything about defining roles," Painter said. "Everyone is a defender, everyone is a rebounder, everyone should take care of the basketball. They're going to decide those roles, I don't decide those roles. Once you figure out your top two or three scorers — there hasn't been a lot of separation."
Daniel Jacobsen has a big opportunity ahead
Since last season ended, Painter has talked about the importance of center Daniel Jacobsen making a big jump. The 7-foot-4 center has endured a lot during his first two seasons with the program, but a major opportunity lies ahead.
"He's put in time. It can be frustrating when you go through the injury that he had to go through, then to work so hard to play USA Basketball again. Then, a frustrating year for him last year, no doubt about it," Painter said. "There were times he helped us, and times we stuck with the group that was out there. But now it's his time. He has a great opportunity to really step up and be one of the better big men in our league."
Jacobsen suffered a leg injury just two games into his freshman season after winning the starting job. Last year, he didn't get the chance to play through his mistakes because of the presence of Oscar Cluff and Trey Kaufman-Renn in the post.
This year, though, Jacobsen will get that opportunity. Like so many Purdue big men before him, it will provide him the biggest chance to grow as a player.
Off-ball defense is a work in progress
Purdue has some excellent on-ball defenders, especially West, Gicarri Harris, CJ Cox and Luke Ertel. But how are things from an off-ball perspective? It's never perfect, but Painter thinks his team is doing a solid job, at least at this point in the offseason.
"I think it's OK. The problem is you try to guard different actions that you don't run," Painter said. "What you see the most is we defend what we run, right? So, sometimes systematically, when you see someone different that runs different stuff, you see like, 'Oh, he really struggles at this.' We didn't do a good job of really helping him get to that point. So you're always trying to think along those lines."
One area where Purdue must improve is with its decisiveness with its ball-screen defense. The Boilers had some trouble running into picks on Friday.
"Today, where we struggled, we kept encountering screens away from the ball. You're either under the screen, or you're tight on the screen, but you don't run into the screen," Painter said. "It's just little things like that that we have to work on."
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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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