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16 ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 25, ISSUE 2 f leave the question: "Are they good enough?" There's no way of knowing. Purdue's only returning senior is walk-on Neal Beshears. Its only two returning scholarship-recruited upper- classmen are Davis and Hammons, both of them juniors. Three sophomores return: Stephens, Bryson Scott and Basil Smotherman. They are not finished products as players by any stretch of the imagination. Otherwise, it's all newcomers, the most intriguing of which may now be Octeus, a sleek, versatile, athletic and accomplished one-year addition who averaged 13-and- a-half points and only about one turnover per game for Colorado State last season in the Mountain West Con- ference, playing 34 minutes a night as the Rams' No. 1 point guard. Octeus is the only player on Purdue's roster to have played in an NCAA Tournament game, two actu- ally. Octeus was slated to be UCLA's starting point guard this season before being denied admission to his cho- sen graduate school program months after committing, blind-siding him and Steve Alford alike. If nothing else, Octeus adds an experienced hand to Purdue's wide-open point guard fray — Scott, Thomp- son and walk-on Stephen Toyra are its other options in what might be a non-traditional platoon-like arrange- ment — as well as versatility, athleticism and length in a backcourt short on all those things. He might be Pur- due's No. 1 defensive guard from Day 1. The freshmen could all play roles, four of them well positioned to, at least. The one question mark might be Taylor. Between the 4 and 5 positions, it's not clear where the 6-10 athlete fits in at this point. Otherwise, Edwards, Mathias, Thompson and Haas all have a chance to contribute immediately, some of them to start. Edwards, a 6-7 forward with guard skills, looks like the frontrunner to man the 4 position, an important one for Purdue offensively, a spot where it has long coveted the ability to create favorable matchups with offensive skill. Mathias was recruited for his shooting, but has been called by Painter, "the best passer we've had in 10 years and it's not close." But Mathias' mind and basketball savvy might be his greatest attributes of all, or so his coaches suggest. The same might be said for Thompson, a heady point guard who was added in the spring by Purdue, his cha- risma and magnetic personality being no small part of the Boilermaker coaches' interest in him. Scott and Thompson entered the fall as Purdue's two primary point guards, but Octeus will have a chance to trump them both; Toyra could factor into a rotation; and Edwards' and Mathias' passing ability could help Purdue decentralize point guard responsibilities. Haas, all 7-2, 300-some pounds of him, will back up Hammons, maybe play alongside him at times in a twin-towers lineup being experimented with, an align- ment that would move Hammons away from the basket to accommodate "ultimate size," as Painter calls it. "Something we have found out, in a zone and in the offense, A.J. Hammons is more than capable of playing the 4 spot," Painter said. "That will not be an issue." For those lineups to be useful, though, Purdue has to be able to rely on Haas for quality minutes. As important as the newcomers will be from a sheer numbers perspective as much as anything else, Purdue needs everything it can get from Hammons. If Purdue's going to play above its projections, it might have to do so on the shoulders of its big man. "Excited and scared," Hammons said of his expecta- tions for this season. "You never know what tomorrow's going to hold." Job 1 on offense for those around the 7-footer is to get him the ball on the interior. Job 2 is for him to make better decisions than he did a year ago and help his sup- Tom Campbell Vince Edwards will have an opportunity to earn a starting role as the 4 position.