Purdue Women's Basketball Utilizing Jenny Boucek, Pacers Staff as Resource
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Katie Gearlds has always been an advocate for playing at a fast pace. She loves when her team can get the ball in transition, surround the three-point line with shooters, and put opposing teams on their heels defensively. Thanks to some offseason conversations with Indiana Pacers coaches Rick Carlisle and Jenny Boucek, Purdue believes it can run an up-tempo offense.
Gearlds believes she has a team filled with athleticism and skilled shooting and wants to utilize those strengths. She has a strong understanding of how she wants that offense to operate this coming season.
But she also wanted some fresh ideas and new takes. So, why not lean on the Pacers, an organization that plays 90 miles away from Purdue's campus and reached the NBA Finals thanks to its unique offensive style?
"We've done some Zoom meetings with the Pacers and talked with Jenny Boucek about their pace of play," Gearlds said at Big Ten Media Days. "Think about how much fun they were to watch. Just conceptually, trying to figure out how the Pacers grabbed that. You see the game trending that way."
The Pacers were impossible to defend, pushing the tempo and creating space on the floor. Indiana's ball movement was among the best in the league, allowing players to take open shots or get one-on-one matchups in the paint.
That style is similar to one that Gearlds wants to run in West Lafayette. The best part? It's been an easy sell to her team.
"Our group has bought into it," she said. "Who doesn't want to play fast and shoot a lot of threes and have spacing to get downhill? Worst-case scenario, you throw it to the girl [freshman Avery Gordon] who is 6-foot-7 in the paint and she catches and scores it."
Players are embracing the offensive style Gearlds wants to run at Purdue — pushing the ball in transition, sprinting to the corners of the floor, spacing out the defense, and knocking down shots. It's only been seen in practice, but Gearlds says the off-ball movement and shooting ability are drastically better from a season ago.
Gearlds has already implemented some of Indiana's concepts into Purdue's offense. And if she has any other questions during the season, she has some pretty good resources that can be utilized.
"It's been good, Jenny has been great, even Coach Carlisle has been awesome. Anything they find or see, they send to us," Gearlds said. "We're trying to live in this world of unpredictability, where anyone can do anything at any time.
"We want to make it fun to watch."
Related stories on Purdue women's basketball
- LAYDEN-ZAY'S RETURN BENEFITING PURDUE: Madison Layden-Zay decided to come out of retirement and use her final season of eligibility. Purdue is reaping the benefits in several ways. CLICK HERE
- GEARLDS REDISCOVERS COACHING PERSONALITY: The struggles of the 2024-25 season ate away at Purdue coach Katie Gearlds. How an offseason of "soul searching" helped her find her Gene Keady personality. CLICK HERE
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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