18 GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATE VOLUME 26, ISSUE 3
posing collection of size, but also a
wealth of perimeter skill to comple-
ment it.
When the Boilermakers dropped off
following the 2011-12 season — they
were one of the best three-point shoot-
ing and decision-making teams in the
game that year — they bottomed out
in some basic elements of the game:
The shooting in all its forms went
south.
"There's times you get in games
and the other team just has more
talent than you. That happens to 99
percent of the teams in college basket-
ball, where the other team might have
more talent or more athleticism, but it
doesn't mean you have to lose," Paint-
er said. "But if you don't make your
free throws, can't make an open shot,
you're probably going to lose. You have
to be able to offset that with your intel-
ligence and your skill level. At times we
didn't have the talent, but at times we
just didn't have the intelligence or the
skill level and that was just ridiculous.
I was just like, 'Hey, we can do this. We
can play the game the right way, get
some guys in here who were smart,
that can make shots, make their free
throws, take care of the basketball.
Then, let's try to get some athleticism
with it, get some size with it, and if we
don't, so be it. At least we can control
the basketball and dictate the game a
little bit and still get some wins.'"
And so came a mandate from the
head coach: Recruit a shooter in every
class. At least within reason.
Purdue would have recruited Ste-
phens no matter what its situation
at the time was. He was a very highly
regarded prospect and his family ties
to the program made the connection
there a natural one.
But it was the shooters that followed
that clearly came in response to what
ENABLING LIFE.
it's not just cancer research
"I believe that by
understanding the
fundamental mechanisms
of how cells copy their DNA
and express their genes, we
will be able to design new
drugs that are more
eff
effective at treating cancer -
without some of the terrible
side effects."
Vikki Weake, Assistant
Professor of Biochemistry,
is studying chromatin
modifying complexes in
cancer development.
You can help.
cancerresearch.purdue.edu
