Purdue Preseason Primer: Redshirt freshman Jack Benter

As the Sept. 23 beginning of preseason practice nears, GoldandBlack.com takes an in-depth look at each of the Boilermakers’ scholarship players and what may lie ahead.

Proceeding alphabetically, today: Redshirt freshman swingman Jack Benter.

Full series: Jack Benter | Raleigh Burgess | Oscar Cluff | CJ Cox | Daniel Jacobsen | Trey Kaufman-Renn | Fletcher Loyer | Omer Mayer | Liam Murphy | Braden Smith | Antione West

OVERVIEW: PURDUE GUARD/FORWARD JACK BENTER

The multi-skilled, multi-positional guard/forward redshirted as a freshman last season for developmental reasons, as basically was the plan all along.

In that time, Benter improved his body to the point he now pushes 6-foot-7 and has taken steps toward optimizing the 210-plus pounds he checked in at last fall. Those dimensions matched with an offensive skillset that reminds of some of the best Purdue’s had — Dakota Mathias, Ryan Cline, etc. — makes Benter a really compelling piece of not just the Boilermakers’ future, but its present, too.

Throughout his redshirt season, Benter shined in any three-point-shooting drill in which results were charted, best on the team in some cases. Keep in mind some of the shooters Purdue has on its team.

BENTER’S POTENTIAL VALUE

Obviously, Purdue has thrust itself into elite status in college basketball leaning heavily on dribble-pass-and-shoot types with strong basketball IQs and pedigrees. Matt Painter’s had a bunch of them over the years, but normally the ability to only play one at a time. Nevertheless, Purdue can never have enough of them.

It’s a mouthful to suggest this might be Painter’s finest collection of three-point shooters, but it might be, and Benter’s certainly part of it.

ASSESSING NEED

Purdue doesn’t need much, to be honest, given the strength of its returning nucleus, but need is just part of the equation. Coaches are so high on Benter, it looks like they are going to play him in a meaningful role somewhere, some how, some way.

In part because of need, but also because of that impulse to get Benter on the floor, Purdue put him at forward this summer, a candidate to fill important minutes behind All-American Trey Kaufman-Renn. That Liam Murphy and Raleigh Burgess were sidelined by their respective recoveries from surgeries opened that door and created a situation where Benter is going to play the 4 in four-guard sorts of lineups.

When Kaufman-Renn is off the floor and either Benter or Murphy — another big-time shooter — take his place, Purdue’s going to have some really formidable shooting combinations on the floor. And Benter’s ability to handle the ball and pass — keep in mind, though, he is still a freshman — is an element Purdue has long coveted at the forward position. Purdue’s offense is built for motion and ball movement, and when its forward lacks guard skills, sometimes things stagnate. Benter is tailor-made for Purdue’s offensive worldview and a potentially excellent post-entry man.

OVERALL OUTLOOK

For all the justified fervor over newcomers Omer Mayer and Oscar Cluff and the return of Daniel Jacobsen, don’t forget Benter, who may not seem to have 25 minutes per game sitting there on paper waiting for him like the others, but does have the chance to help turn a question into a strength depth-chart-wise and make Purdue a better offensive team when he’s on the floor (a complicated topic considering who he might be playing in place of). And he can establish himself as a foundational piece for years to come.

The combinations are going to be interesting when he’s at the 4. He’d be an ideal complement to Kaufman-Renn at the 5, but are you even going to see that now that Purdue has ultimate size at center again? Don’t know. Probably not much if at all.

Regardless, the questions are fairly obvious: If Benter is at “power” forward, can Purdue rebound as effectively as it needs to? There were a few reasons Camden Heide couldn’t beat out Caleb Furst last season; rebounding was certainly one of them.

Offensive skill normally comes at the expense of defensive potency, but Purdue has built its system accordingly. Benter moves OK and is bigger and stronger than some of those shooters who’ve preceded him and may not be as huntable.

There are no Karl Malones at power forward in college basketball — Purdue has the closest thing — so the size component of the position tends to get overblown, but if, let’s say, Illinois is going to put two centers on the floor, can Benter (or Murphy) either hang physically or create enough of an offensive matchup problem to neutralize it? Size can be as much a vulnerability as a strength in basketball these days, and threes are in fact worth more than twos.

But the easy answer is that if an opponent is suffocatingly big and physical, Purdue will have to manage that with its backup 4s.

Benter is going to have an opportunity to play a lot, both at the 4 and on the wing, where Purdue is again stacked. But Purdue clearly intends to piecemeal meaningful minutes together for him. After this season comes his opportunity to take off.