GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 25, ISSUE 5 55
BY BRIAN NEUBERT
BNeubert@GoldandBlack.com
A.J.
Hammons had just
made a decision of
profound magnitude to his career
and maybe life alike, opting to
return to Purdue for his senior
season, then was asked whether
a burden had been lifted from his
shoulders.
"No," the Boilermakers' All-Big
Ten center half-scoffed. "We have
a big season coming up.
"There's no weight off my shoul-
ders at all."
Every team every spring says the
exact same thing, talking about
the great expectations that come
with turning an eye to a new sea-
son and soaring levels of motiva-
tion that are so easy to talk about,
not as easy to back up with action
and results.
But if any team has reason to
mean it this spring and summer,
it's Purdue, as it looks ahead to
what it has every reason to believe
will be a better, brighter future.
In the span of just 12 months,
Purdue morphed from a fractured,
indifferent last-place Big Ten team
to a cohesive, devoted 20-plus-win
team and NCAA Tournament par-
ticipant.
As for that NCAA Tournament,
the Boilermakers will spend the
offseason sitting in the misery
that lingers from that experience.
Cincinnati rallied from seven
down in the final 50 seconds to
stun Purdue in overtime.
That's how an overwhelmingly
positive, resurgent season ended,
with a colossal and, at the time,
shocking thud.
But Purdue may not mind in
the long run if that thud echoes
throughout the months to come.
"I don't think with a loss like that
that you ever put it behind you,"
rising sophomore guard Dakota
Mathias said. "True competitors,
I think it just fuels you every day
and when you get in the gym, you
think about it. I don't think there's
Experience Should Count
Boilermakers look forward to return to national relevance in 2015-16
Tom Campbell
Coach Matt Painter will have a lot to
work with in 2015-16 as he returns as
much experience as he ever has in his
10 years as the Boilermaker boss.
