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6 ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 25, ISSUE 2 f M E N ' S B A S K E T B A L L : S E A S O N P R E V I E W BY BRIAN NEUBERT BNeubert@GoldandBlack.com L ooking for a nudge in the right direction following back-to-back failed seasons, Purdue called in spe- cial forces. Literally. During the first weekend in Sep- tember, Boilermaker men's bas- ketball players trained with SEAL Leadership, a program run by hon- est-to-goodness Navy SEALs. It was a weekend spent trudging through mud, carrying around very heavy things, confronting fears and existing almost solely in discomfort, the important part being that it was all done as a team, Purdue's 14 play- ers — a 15th has since been added — were sequestered together from a Thursday evening to Sunday after- noon with nothing to do but interact, co-exist and cooperate. The purpose of the exercise — the reason water-averse Rapheal Davis realized one of his worst nightmares by falling off a 3-meter platform into a 17-feet-deep diving well and the reason various players risked col- lapsing under the weight of 7-footers A.J. Hammons and Isaac Haas car- rying them around campus' Slayter Hill — was team-building, the culti- vation of camaraderie. Two seasons ago, the University of Texas' basketball team went 16-18, a season thought to have been undercut by many of the same problems Purdue's dealt with of late, and accepted the back-handed compliment of a bid to the College Basketball In- vitational, same as Purdue did that year. Texas' coach, Rick Barnes, brought in SEAL Leadership last fall. The Longhorns won 24 PURDUE MEN'S BASKETBALL ROSTER No. Name Class Pos. Ht. Wt. Hometown/Last School 0 Jon Octeus G Sr. 6-4 175 Miami/Colorado State 1 Bryson Scott G So. 6-1 206 Fort Wayne, Ind./Northrop 2 Jon McKeeman G Jr. 6-1 190 Fort Wayne, Ind./Carroll 3 P.J. Thompson G Fr. 5-10 188 Indianapolis, Ind./Brebeuf Prep 5 Basil Smotherman F So. 6-6 222 Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence North 11 Stephen Toyra G Jr. 6-3 180 Lafayette, Ind./Faith Christian 12 Vince Edwards F Fr. 6-7 220 Middletown, Ohio/Middletown 20 A.J. Hammons C Jr. 7-0 261 Gary, Ind./Oak Hill (Va.) Academy 21 Kendall Stephens G So. 6-6 197 St Charles, Ill./St. Charles East 23 Jacquil Taylor F Fr. 6-9 217 Cambridge, Mass./Beaver Country Day School 24 Anfernee Brown G So. 6-1 190 East Chicago, Ind./East Chicago Central 30 Neal Beshears F Sr. 6-7 198 Winchester, Ind.,/Maine Central Institute 31 Dakota Mathias G Fr. 6-4 197 Elida, Ohio/Elida 35 Rapheal Davis G Jr. 6-5 217 Fort Wayne, Ind./La Lumiere 44 Isaac Haas C Fr. 7-2 297 Piedmont, Ala./Hokes Bluff Chemistry Class Intangibles crucial to Purdue turnaround