Luke Ertel Shines in Mt. Vernon's Trip to West Lafayette
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In only a matter of months, Luke Ertel will call West Lafayette home. On Saturday, though, the future Purdue guard was only visiting, as Mt. Vernon battled Harrison. He put on quite a show and led the Marauders to a 76-56 victory over the Raiders.
Ertel nearly recorded a triple-double in Mt. Vernon's 20-point victory on Saturday, scoring 24 points, dishing out 13 assists and grabbing nine rebounds. It was the type of performance Purdue fans hope to see in West Lafayette frequently when he's wearing a Boilermaker uniform.
Saturday's performance against Harrison was the latest example of Ertel's growth on the basketball court over the last two seasons. He has quickly emerged as one of the top point guards in the 2026 recruiting class and is considered the No. 1 player from Indiana.
Through Mt. Vernon's first 18 games this season, Ertel is averaging 24.3 points, 10.0 rebounds and 6.7 assists per game. He is also recording more than two steals per contest. The 6-foot-1 guard is also shooting at a 46% clip and is knoking down the three-ball at a 37% rate.
It's an outstanding senior season for one of the top candidates to win Indiana's Mr. Basketball award.
Not only is Ertel enjoying a lot of individual success, his Mt. Vernon squad is 16-2 on the season. The Marauders still have seven games remaining in the regular season before the state tournament begins.
Ertel a McDonald's All-American nominee
While we're on the topic of Ertel's individual accolades, he was recently named a nominee to be a 2026 McDonald's All-American. In fact, all four of Purdue's 2026 commits — Ertel, Sinan Huan, Jacob Webber and Rivers Knight — were included on the list.
The McDonald's All-America Game features a 12-man roster for both the East and West teams. Ertel, Webber and Knight were included on the West, while Huan was on the East's list.
Also in January, Ertel made Mt. Vernon history by breaking his school's all-time scoring record. In a win over Southeastern, the senior guard posted a triple-double with 22 points, 17 rebounds and 11 assists. As a result of that performance, he became the school's all-time leading scorer, passing the 1,390 record set by Tim Miller in 1998.
Ertel has put on quite a show throughout his senior season at Mt. Vernon. It has Purdue fans excited for his permanent arrival to West Lafayette later 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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