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GOLDANDBLACK EXPRESS • VOLUME 25, EXPRESS 28 • 4 C aleb Swanigan is really good. Yeah, "Biggie," as he is universally known, is really, really good. You have to be to make "Indiana Mr. Basketball" little more than a redundancy on your résumé. You have to be a pretty decent basketball player to be a McDonald's All-American; to win international gold repping Team USA; and to hold a list of scholarship offers that amounts to the white pages of college hoops. Kentucky wanted Swanigan, as did Michigan State, Duke and damn near everyone else who ever laid basketball-minded eyes on the brilliantly skilled, yet ferociously physical and powerful big man. Offers like that don't just fall off the back of a truck. No, Swanigan is really good, a walking dichotomy between being the best rebounder in the 2015 class and maybe the best passer among those of his physical profile, equipped with a battleship of a physique, steel-trap hands and the feet of an oversized ram, complemented by a razor-sharp understanding of how to put it all to best use. He's a double-edged sword between raw power and relentless effort and the unwavering patience that his analytical mind affords him, making him the rare player who plays the game on his terms at all times. Swanigan is 6-foot-9, 260 or so, but would still be a good basketball player if you docked him five inches and 80 pounds. He knows how to play. He's not going to win any high-jump contests any time soon, nor will he ever run like a startled gazelle, but regardless he is one of the best high school basketball players on the continent, even after skipping over a whole year of high school. And he is gifted enough as an athlete and so brutal of a physical force that if he weren't coming to Purdue to play power forward, he'd be, I'd assume, heading to Alabama or Ohio State or Texas to play offensive tackle. He's playing basketball, though, and he'll do it at Purdue, a possible game-changing addition for a team that didn't need one to be good. It didn't need Swanigan to win a lot of games next season, but if Matt Painter can execute a plan to best incorporate him into a team that might have been growing organically into something special, maybe the Boilermakers can win even more games. Or more importantly, win more important games. As in those played in March. But here's the whole point of this column: Caleb Swanigan is really good. But so is the ensemble he's signing on to join. "Get Biggie," as we can term the dramatic chase in a nod to the Elmore Leonard novel and brilliant movie "Get Shorty," is over, its machinations having captivated those with a rooting interest in Purdue. Now that it's over, it's an enduring truth that Swanigan is really, really good. But so is A.J. Hammons and Isaac Haas as that two-headed monster straight out of Greek mythology out-takes. Vince Edwards can be great, if you ask me. Kendall Stephens and Dakota Mathias are going to get their wayward shooting straightened out. Johnny Hill adds an interesting inclusion to a questionable position. Basil Smotherman remains too athletic to not find a way to help Purdue and P.J. Thompson is trending upward at the point. Ryan Cline's as good a shooter as the nationwide 2015 class has to offer and renowned agitator Grant Weatherford might be so hate-able that Purdue fans are going to love him. Biggie is coming to Purdue, but don't let the hysteria that comes with that news distract from what's already there. Purdue is already good, its rebuild a full light year ahead of schedule. Are the Boilermakers better now? Remains to be seen, but yeah, probably. Caleb Swanigan, good as he is, is just part of the reason, though, not the reason. j Neubert can be contacted at BNeubert@GoldandBlack.com F R O M E D I T O R B R I A N N E U B E R T A Big Piece, But Only A Piece SHOP THE LATEST IN OFFICIAL PURDUE GEAR CALLING ALL BOILERMAKERS FOLLETT'S PURDUE BOOKSTORES Purdue West - Black & Gold Mine /FollettsPurdueBookstores follettspurdue.com