m e n ' s
b a s k e t b a l l :
n e w c o m e r s
ONE-YEAR WONDERS
Transfers have just this season to make their mark with Boilermakers
BY BRIAN NEUBERT
BNeubert@GoldandBlack.com
P
urdue needs Errick Peck's versatility in its frontcourt and Sterling
Carter's shooting in its backcourt.
It needs both of their presences simply for depth after bringing back only
seven scholarship players off last season's team.
But maybe more than anything, the
Boilermakers badly need the two fifthyear transfers' maturity.
Purdue will be a more experienced
team than it was a year ago when it relied so much on freshmen — at its most
Brian Neubert
important positions, no less — but it will Sterling Carter (left) and Errick Peck come to Purdue as fifth-year seniors,
still be a very new team, with as many each with one season of eligibility to use with the Boilermakers after transferring from Seattle University and Cornell, respectively.
first-year players as returnees.
Peck and Carter are first-year players, but certainly not young, each of them grown men, ready for next season."
actually, Peck having spent the past four seasons at CorThrough last season, Matt Painter lamented his
nell and Carter splitting his prior years between Pacific team's lack of maturity, highlighting that term more
and Seattle University.
Both came to West Lafayette this summer as fifth-year
seniors on one hand, freshmen on the other, but each of
them eager to lead a team they've not yet even suited up
for.
"The biggest thing is to just lead by example," Peck
said. "I haven't always been the most vocal guy — I will
be when I need to be — but for the most part I just need
to come in every day and work my tail off. … Hard work
will earn you the respect of your team and your teammates."
It's an uncommon dynamic for Purdue, which doubled
the size of its senior class in the spring. Otherwise, Terone
Johnson and Travis Carroll would have been its only seniors. Not only that, but its only upperclassmen, period.
"I feel like I can be a great leader here," Carter said.
"We're all focused on this season, but I feel like maybe
I can even help some of the young guys below me get
81
IllustrateD volume 24, issue 1
f
