Gold and Black's Men's Hoops Lineup
The
Starters
The
Reserves
The
Deep
Bench
A.J. Hammons 20
C • 7-0 • Fr.
To understand the Big Ten
All-Freshman Team member's
consistency issues, one must
understand his background.
He is a laid-back personality type unaccustomed to
playing in the spotlight or
having to carry a team himself, not that he had
to do that this season, but much was asked of
him. This season was unlike anything he's ever
been exposed to. Hammons was tremendous at
times, invisible others. But at the end of the day,
his freshman year was very, very good and only
the beginning. He will mature, develop a better
understanding of the game and the commitment involved and be an outstanding player for
the Boilermakers as early as next year. He can
truly be as good as he wants to be.
Terone Johnson 0
G • 6-2 • Jr.
Purdue will be much more
experienced, but will still be
short on prominent upperclassmen. Johnson is going
to have to take ownership
of a team that'll now be "his."
As a junior, he was worthy of
All-Big Ten recognition despite some ups and
downs, including a couple of mild injuries. Next
season, he should have a bit more help offensively as young players grow up, but much will
still be needed from him, both as a scorer and
defender. But more than anything, he needs to
be that leader, a positive, hard-working influence the team's freshmen and sophomores
can emulate. We wouldn't expect any dramatic
changes overnight, but the CBI would be a
good opportunity for next year's leadership to
assert itself.
Sandi Marcius 55
Donnie Hale 15
C • 6-9 • Jr.
F • 6-8 • R-Fr.
Marcius is on pace to graduate
Philosophically, it'll be interestfrom Purdue in the summer.
ing to see how Matt Painter
He'll have a decision to make as
chooses to play in the future
to whether he wants to return
after small lineups have paid
for his fifth-year senior season.
such great dividends the past
Purdue will certainly hope he
two seasons offensively. Hale
decides to finish out his eligibility in West Lafay- is the traditional power forward body type who
ette. He transformed late this season into the
needs to get stronger and more aggressive. He
player the Boilermakers hoped he'd be after he did enough good things as a redshirt freshman
was so good in Italy last summer and his energy to show there's a prominent role for him with
and enthusiasm will be needed next season.
this program long-term, but also struggled
It was interesting to see the dynamic between enough to illustrate how far he still has to go.
him and Hammons late in the season: The two Painter will want him to develop defensively
centers genuinely seemed to be rooting for one into the sort of player who can go against both
another.
big forwards and more skilled ones. But strength
is his biggest issue.
Jay Simpson* 32
F • 6-8 • Fr.
Dru Anthrop 14
G • 6-0 • Sr.
Ronnie Johnson 3
G • 5-10 • Fr.
Toward the end of the season, the rookie point guard
settled down some, and
that impacted Purdue for
the better collectively. It was
an up-and-down season for
Johnson, but as with Hammons, in the final analysis, it was a good one,
all things considered. There's plenty of work
to do in the future, be it his understanding of
the college game, his jump-shooting or his
physical preparedness in terms of strength.
But his future is very bright, an All-Big Ten
player in the making. Johnson is one of the
young players who can use all the experience
he can get, thus creating value in Purdue's CBI
appearance.
D.J. Byrd 21
F • 6-4 • Sr.
Byrd will be missed next
season in his ability to go
off for five or six threes on
any given night. Purdue
will need a new long-range
threat — preferably more
than one, actually, preferably
some multi-dimensional shooting threats —
to emerge. After being part of several very
good Purdue teams, this obviously was not
how the senior envisioned going out. But
the mix between the Boilermaker veterans
and newcomers did not click right away for
Purdue, and that led to some of the team's
struggles, particularly early. The senior gets
a chance to put on a Purdue jersey at least
one more team. We'll find out how badly he
wanted it.
Rapheal Davis 35
G/F • 6-5 • Fr.
As is the case with his
classmates, Davis' future
is bright, but his present
was, too. The freshman
came on in a big way at
the end of the regular
season, giving Purdue a
dose of needed toughness and a motivator on top of his excellent penetration
skills and surprising ability to rebound as
a 6-foot-5 player manning the 4 position.
What will be interesting to see is whether
he migrates to the wing as he gets older
or remains as a stretch 4. Either way, he
has the makings of a very good player and
emerging leader.
Anthony Johnson 1
G • 6-3 • So.
Purdue lacked depth at
guard this year, all but guaranteeing the sophomore
minutes. It was a rough
season for him, and him
and the coaching staff
didn't always appear to be on the same
page. Next year, Purdue will have more
experience in the backcourt and more
options with freshmen Bryson Scott and
Kendall Stephens coming in, in addition to
any guard help that might be added in the
spring. There is no telling where he fits in
moving forward, if he does at all.
Travis Carroll 50
C • 6-9 • Jr.
Carroll is never going to be
a standout. At this point,
that much is obvious. He's
over-achieved, really, just to
be a contributor. But Purdue
has other good options at
the center position and Carroll is a good
team player and high-effort performer.
There's no harm whatsoever in having a
player like that on your roster, even if his
opportunities are limited for one reason
or another.
Jacob Lawson 34
F • 6-8 • So.
Lawson is a total non-factor
right now. Even in a game
Purdue won by 16 over Minnesota and cleared its bench
at the end, Lawson still didn't
leave the bench. His productivity fell off sharply in the opportunities he
did get early in the Big Ten season and has
not seen eye to eye with his coaches on the
effort front. We'll see what happens after
the season.
Neal Beshears 30
F • 6-6 • So.
Stephen Toyra 11
G • 6-3 • Fr.
* Simpson is sitting out the rest of the
season while recovering from a foot problem that plagued him through the first 10
games of the season. He'll pursue a medical redshirt.
— Brian Neubert
GoldanDBlack express • volume 23, express 26 • 14
