3 Reasons Why Purdue Basketball's Busy Preseason is Important
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Matt Painter loves testing his teams before the results matter. This year, Purdue is going to get plenty of opportunities before the regular season tips off, and it comes at a time when the program needs it most.
This summer, Purdue will travel to Canada to play four games in five days, the first competitive challenge the Boilermakers will face in the offseason. Then, in October, they will play three exhibition games: a home game against Ball State, a neutral-site contest against UConn, and a road game against Purdue-Fort Wayne.
It's an important offseason for Purdue, as the program welcomes in five new faces on the roster and a group of returning players who will take on new roles. Here are a few reasons why it's important for the Boilermakers to have such a busy offseason.
Getting the newcomers up to speed
Purdue is bringing in five new players — although that total could increase to six. Luke Ertel, Sinan Huan, Jacob Webber and Rivers Knight are all members of the 2026 recruiting class and Caden Pierce is a senior transfer from Princeton.
The most important thing for the Boilermakers is to get those five players up to speed. It'll be easier for Pierce, a college veteran. But, as many on the roster can attest, it's not an easy task to learn Purdue's offense and defensive lingo for incoming freshmen.
Getting those incoming players caught up will be something the program does throughout the summer, but it will help all five guys to learn it while in a competitive atmosphere. Playing games against college teams in Canada could expedite the process, allowing younger guys to play through their mistakes.
Testing different lineups and rotations
For the past three offseasons, Purdue's lineup has never really been much of a question. With four starters departing, though, there are endless possibilities as to what the starting five and various rotations will look like when the season tips off.
Painter can test just about every lineup imaginable in the seven games Purdue will play throughout the offseason, giving him and his staff a better idea of what works and what doesn't. It's an advantage that could put the Boilermakers ahead of the curve when they open the season on Nov. 2 against Gonzaga in Las Vegas.
It's difficult to know for sure how Painter will approach this situation, but I'd expect Purdue to tinker with lineups and rotations throughout its four games in Canada. There will still be some adjustments made in those three exhibition games, but we'll likely start to see things tightened up a bit.
A chance to adjust the defense?
The major concerns for Purdue in the past two seasons have come on the defensive end. This offseason, former Boilermaker Kenneth Lowe joined the staff to assist Paul Lusk with defensive responsibilities. How much will the defensive philosophy change?
That's still an unknown. However, if the Boilers are making some alterations to their defensive rules and responsibilities, these preseason games serve as a great opportunity for the Boilers to learn and implement new concepts.
I don't expect any major changes on that end of the floor, but it's a chance for Purdue to address some of the issues it's had defensively, especially when it comes to communicating.
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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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