Three Thoughts: Jacob Webber’s commitment

Purdue landed quite possibly the top shooter in the 2026 class nationally this week when it landed four-star prospect Jacob Webber.

The 6-foot-6 wing played high school for a year in Scottsdale, then two years in Kearney, Neb., prior to transferring to LaLumiere in Northern Indiana his senior year.

One of the stars of July on the adidas circuit, Webber continues Matt Painter’s years-long mandate to stockpile elite shooting ensembles. Purdue didn’t offer Webber ’til July, but it identified long before, recruited him seriously for months and got him to campus for an in-season unofficial visit for the Alabama game.

Here are some broad points to make about Webber and Purdue.

PURDUE GETS A DYNAMIC SHOOTER

Being a great shooter is one thing, being a great shooter on the move is something different. Webber is very much the latter. Particularly for a player of his length, he is outstanding at running off screens running intricate routes, cutting into catches and firing on the move, balanced or not. His flexibility and ability to generate equilibrium, place his hands and feet in motion are instructional video-level. And his release point is the exclamation point on the whole operation.

In-motion shooting is a profoundly valuable ability for programs that run complex offense, not only to get the shooter involved shots, but to open the floor for others, to manipulate defenses and create angles, which are really so important to what Purdue offensively, particularly when feeding the post.

Sasha Stefanovic is probably the gold standard for this at Purdue, as his game-wrecking potential running off compound screening actions commanded defense’s attention, sewed confusion, displaced help defenders and helped the Boilermakers ascend to the highest levels of offensive basketball. He never got as much credit as he deserved for the scoring he contributed to vs. the scoring he actually accounted for.

Ryan Cline and Dakota Mathias were this type of shooter also, though both had a a lot more game to them than jump-shooting. Both were excellent ball-handlers and passers for their positions. But they both had to respected to the nth degree when they were running around off screens.

Webber will need to get bigger and stronger, in part to ensure he doesn’t get tangled up in screens in the physical Big Ten, but in the best case, Webber one day carries that sort of gravity for Purdue’s whole offense.

A BIG RECRUITING WIN FOR PURDUE

Again, when a player does what Webber did in July, things tend to blow up. Purdue was involved with Webber for quite some time, but appeared satisfied with its shooting infrastructure otherwise and didn’t offer until Painter saw him erupt in Rock Hill in July.

A bunch of offers came in for a player who Kansas had recruited for some time and Kentucky was just getting involved, but Purdue did a good enough job on the visit this past weekend to earn a commitment from one of the hottest prospects out there. Not speaking for Webber here, but Purdue obviously articulated a strong fit, and Final Four cachet is probably paying dividends in this class.

The unofficial visit, too. Purdue’s success with recruits it hosts for games in Mackey Arena vs. those it doesn’t or can’t have to be very different. Mackey is really a force multiplier for its recruiting and Webber and his family driving out for Nebraska was clearly an indicator of real interest if an offer did eventually come.

Webber had a visit scheduled to Tennessee before committing to Purdue. He fielded offers, too, this summer from Arizona State and Cincinnati and had long held offers from Creighton, Nebraska and more,

LOADING UP ON SHOOTERS AGAIN

Truth be told, has there been a better jump-shooting program in America the past decade than Purdue? There have probably been similarly successful ones, but who’s been better or as consistent than the Painter post-last place philosophical tantrum that fundamentally reshaped the program around offensive skill.

Purdue’s been known for big guys, but it’s really been around the marriage between great post presences and elite dribble-pass-and-shoot, most importantly shoot, ensembles.

They’re loading up again.

In Webber and Luke Ertel, Purdue has two of the best senior-to-be shooters in America. Redshirt freshman Jack Benter will be a key cog the next several years and sophomores CJ Cox and Gicarri Harris are coming off freshman seasons in which they shot 40-plus-percent from three in Big Ten play.

Purdue’s been one of college basketball’s premier shooting programs and doesn’t seem like it’s going anywhere any time soon.