Purdue Preseason Primer: Sophomore center Daniel Jacobsen

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: Sophomore center Daniel Jacobsen.

Reminder: Jacobsen’s case for an extra year of eligibility, should he pursue one, should be a lock. However, those cases typically are not dealt with until the back end of a player’s career. Therefore, he is a sophomore, not a redshirt freshman.

OVERVIEW: PURDUE’S DANIEL JACOBSEN

Purdue’s prohibitive lack of size last season can be traced back to the very beginning of Game 2, when the freshman center broke his leg vs. Northern Kentucky, just one minute into the game and 26 official minutes into his college career.

How much a healthy Jacobsen would have changed Purdue’s overall outcomes last season is hard to project — he was going to have ups and downs as all freshmen do — but the 7-foot-4 center surely couldn’t have hurt a team whose greatest deficiency was verticality and all that comes with it defensively and on the glass.

Purdue was probably the least potent shot-blocking team in America last year and considerably limited as a defensive rebounding team, gaps that affected so much more than just the defensive end.

Now, things reverse, in large part due to Jacobsen’s return. The recovery year now swings toward a positive, as Jacobsen added much-needed size and strength while idled and got some of the learning benefits of a redshirt year.

There was a transition process involved this summer to his new body and in returning to game form, both in Purdue’s practices and in his run with USA Basketball’s gold-winning 19U FIBA World Championships Team, but that was to be expected.

JACOBSEN’S POTENTIAL VALUE

It’s obvious. Purdue turned a cavernous void last season into a likely strength by bringing back Jacobsen and adding coveted transfer Oscar Cluff at center.

The combination of the two should not only solidify the middle, but also combine perhaps for All-Big Ten-level productivity. It’s not unreasonable to expect the center position to account for a double-double most nights.

And of course, this: Purdue blocked 59 shots all of last season. Jacobsen should easily eclipse that number by himself this season. He alone takes the Boilermakers from having no credible shot-blockers to having a potentially elite one, in addition to the rim-protection punch both Cluff’s girth and strength and Jacobsen’s length provide. It’s transformational, as will be apparent immediately.

Offensively, the frontcourt runs through Trey Kaufman-Renn, but the high-low-offense and big-to-big-passing possibilities are endless. Jacobsen and Cluff give Purdue post-offense options when Kaufman-Renn is on the bench — a void last season — and make the Boilermakers a really formidable offensive rebounding team. Rim protection and improved defensive rebounding will create more fast-break offense. For all Purdue’s starpower this season, watch the second-chance and fast-break scoring columns. Both are linked with size and both should spike.

And Jacobsen can shoot threes and Purdue may want him doing so.

When Purdue played that exhibition game at Creighton last year — Jacobsen’s first real college action, on the road, with star Ryan Kalkbrenner opposite him — he gave Purdue seven points, two offensive rebounds, two drawn fouls and a three in just 18 minutes off the bench. He was a team-best +8 in that loss.

Purdue will use him heavily this season as a pick-and-roll dive man, as the flip-up dunk returns to the offensive mix in a variety of forms.

ASSESSING NEED

From last season, it’s dire. Now, barring anything unforeseen, it’s fixed. There’s just no overstating what size means to this Purdue team.

Jacobsen can be a defensive game-changer. And while his days as a go-to offensive player may lie ahead after this season, there will be plenty of opportunities for him to cobble together meaningful scoring.

It’s not just Jacobsen, but the combination of he and Cluff that absolutely transform this team. Purdue will have to figure out some things about playing Kaufman-Renn next to real size, but that might be more a potential strength than a question, truthfully. Purdue’s pretty good about making things work and even if there’s some spacing clunkiness, it’ll still be a net gain when held up against rebounding and defensive jumps. Purdue just has to take care of the ball.

OVERALL OUTLOOK

Jacobsen’s best days may still be down the line, as he’ll ascend after this season into one of the best jobs in college sports as the Boilermakers’ go-to guy in the post. For the time being, he’s a critical cog on a great team who’ll hit last year’s Purdue deficiencies right where they hurt.

Cluff will make him better, his new body will make him better and in turn, Jacobsen will make those around him better. Braden Smith gets the benefit of a blocked shot every now and then and a more stable defensive rebounding apparatus, meaning more fast-break chances. Every perimeter defender on the floor has had the benefit of legitimate size having their backs. The weight of the world now lifts off Trey Kaufman-Renn‘s shoulders, too, on a roster that might click together almost ideally.