Takeaways: Purdue basketball and the June evaluation period

CARMEL — College basketball’s increasingly relentless recruiting calendar turned to June evaluation period for school-sponsored events.

With more and more states now participating — Indiana did from Day 1, as the Charlie Hughes Showcase high school event existed for years before the NCAA allowed college coaches to attend — there was lots of ground to cover for Purdue and everyone else.

Here are a few broad takeaways from the June evaluation period.

PURDUE AND ISAIAH HILL

It’s well-known that college coaches in general are dedicating less time and energy to recruiting high school players earlier in their careers. But for many years, a player like the Indianapolis Pike Class of 2027 center would have drawn much more of a crowd than he did, as only Indiana’s and Ohio State’s head coaches showed up for him at any point this weekend. (And Ohio State is also recruiting teammate Jahari Miller and perhaps eventually others.)

Purdue, IU, Notre Dame and Ohio State were the only schools to watch all his games, it seemed, and Louisville, Georgia Tech and Syracuse were really the only other high-majors to have coaches present, all assistants.

It’s hard for coaches to get everywhere and again, non-immediate contributors are not everyone’s priority anymore, but there might be another undercurrent at work here, too. While the Portal Era has compelled many programs to ease off years-long recruiting processes, Purdue is going to keep doing what it’s been doing all along. That has meant jumping all over the 7-foot Hill at first sight and putting themselves ahead of the field in that regard. It’s an open secret, if a secret at all, that Purdue is going to be difficult to beat for Hill. (Matt Painter did not come to Charlie Hughes, a decision made more palatable by the fact that P.J. Thompson is really the face of Purdue’s pursuit of Hill. Thompson attended each of Pike’s four games this weekend.)

Perhaps Purdue’s perceived positioning here suppressed turnout, or will do so from here on out.

Next month is big. The July evaluation period will be interesting. If national name-brands show up for Hill next month, it could complicate things. But this weekend suggested the Dukes, Kansases, Kentuckys, etc., weren’t going to make special effort to come to Indiana just to see a junior-to-be.

THE 4-MOST PRIORITY

There were a lot of places Matt Painter could have been this weekend, but to my knowledge he spent all his time either in Tennessee or Boston, locations that included forward targets Trey Thompson (who later reclassified in July and chose Iowa) and newly offered Quinn Costello. Keep in mind that logistics are challenging and 72 hours go by quick, so being able to be everywhere at once is an impossibility.

But that Painter dedicated his time to those two events clearly reflected his program’s most urgent need: Forward/4.

That’s where Thompson has been the pick of the litter for Purdue for like a year, only for him to not quite pull the trigger after all these months of seemingly being on the cusp. In turn, Purdue has had to expand its search, bringing it to Costello and others.

This is the position where Purdue may need not only multiple signees, but players who can play ASAP. The portal will be explored, and Purdue is currently kicking the tires on Jack Benter playing the 4, with his future fit in mind.

Painter spending his time this weekend teeing off on 4 men really highlighted the urgency of it.

Along those lines …

PURDUE HAS A NOAH SMITH DECISION TO MAKE

Plainfield forward Noah Smith really put his best foot forward in front of Purdue the past two weeks, first really playing well at its team camp the week before last, then keeping it up this weekend at Charlie Hughes, as a Boilermaker assistant coach watched every game.

The sweet-shooting 6-foot-9 forward doesn’t have a high-major offer yet, but really should. He has too much offensive skill and enough physical up-side not to.

But as noted above, Purdue has a lot of balls in the air now at the 4, and while it may have leverage now in a recruitment like Smith’s, a big-picture view has to be taken with that critical position. Smith has shown he’s good enough to be offered by a place like Purdue, but that has to be weighed against the urgent need for someone who can step right in, which Smith may or may not be.

With an in-state player who hasn’t quite broken through yet with high-majors, the possibility of quick commitments is always there, so … these are the sort of decisions coaches get paid a lot of money to make.