28 GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED
final months in its program.
It's been a process, one that's required tremendous pa-
tience, for all involved.
Hammons enrolled at Purdue in 2012 uncertain of his
Day 1 role. He figured he might play good minutes, might
not, that he could ease into things, maybe block some
shots, play some defense and go from there.
Instead, he was an immediate foundation. He started
from Day 1, played as much as Purdue could get out of
him and became a focal point offensively, a role he'd nev-
er played before at any level. He was a foundation, but
anything but solid.
"I never knew that role," Hammons said. "I just wasn't
used to it. Now, I wouldn't say that I want it at the end of
the game, but I don't have a problem taking those shots."
Back when Hammons was a freshman, he was a
wildcard, quite simply. In his third college game, he
scored five points on 2-of-7 in an overtime loss at Vil-
lanova, then went 8-for-10 and scored 20 the following
afternoon against Oregon State. He'd score two against
Illinois, then 20 at Michigan State. And there were
games where the largest person on the court simply
disappeared.
Such trending defined Hammons until midway through
last season and is now largely a thing of the past.
A player who towers over most everyone has grown.
"It's been about playing hard all the time, competing,
Jamie Owens
After a considerable process, A.J. Hammons, finally as a
senior, has developed into one of the nation's best all-around
centers.
