Gold and Black is a multi-platform media company that covers Purdue athletics like no one else.
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/470008
GOLD & BLACK ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 25, ISSUE 4 60 in which Hamilton Heights was never threatened again en route to a 66-53 victory. Again, it's just what Weatherford does. "One thing in this day and age is that everybody wants to look at a box score and see a guy who's going to score 25 points," Hamilton Heights coach Chad Ballenger said, "but Grant impacts all our games without scoring a lot of the time." The Twin Lakes game was a case study. Weatherford finished with 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting, most of his field goal attempts coming off turnovers or offensive rebounds. He plays point guard at times for the Huskies but very little about his skill set fits the prototype for the position. His mentality does, but otherwise, that's about it. He's not a jump-shooter. It's not that he can't shoot as much as he just doesn't try all that much. And he doesn't often delve outside offensive structure to go one-on-one on people. Weatherford averages 12 points per game this season, a Big Ten recruit tied for third on his high school team in scoring. What Weatherford does, though, is very often change games defensive- ly, affecting not only the player he's locking into, but sometimes every- one else on the floor given his pen- chant for striking quickly when an opponent's pass goes up for grabs. And with Weatherford, every pass is up for grabs. "He just makes people aware of him," Ballenger said. "Whether he's on the ball or off the ball, the other team always has to be aware that he's some- where. I think he can get in peoples' heads that way. He has that knack to intimidate people, not verbally, but just because his presence is always there." Weatherford grabbed five steals against Twin Lakes that night, in- cluding the one that stood at the end of the night as the game's big- gest play. He averages 3.3 steals per game. In one game this season, he had 10. For the season, he's stolen the ball significantly more than he's turned it over, his steal-to-turnover ratio standing at nearly 1.7. That's not a mainstream statistic and nev- er will be, but it's one that does tell Weatherford's story well, capturing the interest- ing dichotomy between him playing with raw abandon on defense and un- compromising control on offense. Weatherford steals a lot of passes, and that says nothing of all those that are thrown away or thrown poorly sim- ply because he might be in the general vicinity. "The other team hesitates to throw that pass when they see he's around," teammate Hunter Crist said. "He's so quick. He'll get to that ball." Buy a Subaru and Keep Indiana Driving. BRAND NEW 2015 SUBARU FORESTER Bob Rohrman Subaru 1600 South Creasy Lane, Lafayette, IN 47905 1-866-906-6223 www.BobRohrmanSubaru.com INCOMING BOILERMAKERS CLASS OF 2015 — SIGNED Ryan Cline SG 6-4 175 Carmel, Ind. (Carmel) Grant Weatherford PG 6-2 215 Arcadia. Ind. (Hamilton Heights) CLASS OF 2016 — COMMITTED C.J. Walker PG 5-10 Indianapolis (Arsenal Tech) C.J. Walker Bob Smith