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ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 25, ISSUE 3 21 f All the bouncing around has helped Octeus in important ways: He's learned to adapt to different situ- ations and he's grown as a leader in the pro- cess. He's had to. When he first got to Garden City Commu- nity College in Kan- sas, he was on a team loaded with as many as 25 players rang- ing from teenagers to 22-year-olds, he said. He knew before he could lead, he had to follow. So he soaked it all in, observing all of the personalities and how they interacted with others, what they did right, what they didn't. He did the same thing in his first year at Colorado State when the program had six seniors, he said. By Year 2 at Colorado State, he was a full-time starter and Coach Larry Eustachy was calling him a "natural-born leader." Octeus says he isn't sure where that comes from, but he is the oldest of 10 grandchildren, was class president in high school and was the captain of all his pee wee foot- ball teams. "I guess I was just kind of born with it and I just run with it," he said. "I think my personality allows me to get along with a lot of types of personalities, which helps a lot. Some people just might not be able to get along with a certain type of person. I don't think I have that problem. I think I can pretty much get along with anybody. "I also kind of have an understanding of how to ap- proach certain players. Certain players can't be ap- proached in front of everybody, have to go behind the scenes and say something or some players they need more of a challenge than you telling them, 'Hey, this is what needs to happen.' I think I have learned from other people how to approach other players and that's helped me really mold into a leader from that standpoint." Octeus considers his transition to Pur- due a success, saying he fits in with the team well, and his teammates seem to have responded to the been-there, done-that 23-year-old. Espe- cially considering he entered a roster that had only one senior, one who came to Pur- due as a walk-on. "He just gets it," said sophomore guard Bryson Scott, who was hoping to have the starting point guard spot be- fore Octeus swooped in. "He's been through it, so it's easy for him to adapt to it. He does everything the coaches ask, so he gets what he gets." That'd be a starting role from the season's first game, despite the odd late-to-the-mix arrival. But Painter knew exactly what his team needed from a point guard: An unselfish facilitator and smart deci- sion-maker that would play lock-down defense. Through the season's first 11 games, Painter has got- ten that from Octeus. He had a two-to-one assist-to-turn- over ratio (29 assists, 14 turnovers) and generally did a good job getting the Boilermakers into their offense. But Octeus has had to adapt his game, too. His averages were down in mid-December from last season's production at Colorado State, but this role also is distinctly different. For the Rams, Octeus was a combo guard who was asked to score and also run the offense. So he did. He averaged 13.4 points, 4.7 rebounds and had 73 assists to only 39 turnovers while starting every game and averaging nearly 34 minutes. At Purdue, though, he's strictly been a point guard and he's surrounded by other primary scoring options. Painter likes to play through the post and his 7-footers, but freshman Vince Edwards also has been a spot-scorer Tom Campbell Octeus has fit right in with his teammates, a concern considering that the transfer came to the Boilermakers so late.