b a s k e t b a l l
p l a y e r
f e a t u r e :
a . j .
h a m m o n s
steady now
Hammons making strides toward consistency
BY BRIAN NEUBERT
BNeubert@GoldandBlack.com
I
t's Jan. 16 and Purdue's first-ever trip to play at Nebraska and
A.J. Hammons looks like a star in the
making, on the verge of becoming a
dominant college player and playing
basketball for a very, very long time
thereafter.
In that 14-point, eight-rebound,
six-block performance, the freshman center showed it all, and most
importantly, his team won, in a season where wins were so very hard to
come by.
Just a week later, however, it's
Purdue playing at eventual NCAA
runner-up Michigan, the Wolverines
ranked second nationally at the time
and about to move up to No. 1. The
visiting Boilermakers gave them a
game, actually leading at halftime.
If only their enigmatic young big
man had shown up in more than
simply body …
That swing, from Hammons' brilliant showing in Lincoln to his twopoint, two-rebound, two-turnover
whatever-that-was in Ann Arbor
just seven days later, tells the tale of
last season for Purdue and its most
promising young player.
Making sense of it all was a challenge for coaches and teammates,
who often grew frustrated with
Hammons' inconsistency, knowing
they needed so much from him to
win only to see him so disengaged at
times, so uneven all season.
With the benefit of hindsight and
the perspective that comes with the
18
IllustrateD volume 24, issue 2
Tom Campbell
A slimmer, more mature A.J. Hammons should mean an even bigger season
for Purdue's big man, who was a member of the Big Ten's All-Freshman Team a
year ago.
maturation process, Hammons admits to being overwhelmed.
"I used to worry about expectations last year and it would bother
me during games," Hammons said.
"I'm just going to not worry about
living up to people's expectations,
and go out there and do what I do.
f
