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GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 27, ISSUE 3 69 HEAD START FOR HAARMS In what amounts to an unforeseen win-win for all involved, Purdue Class of 2017 signee Matt Haarms will enroll in West Lafayette in January. Because of his age — the native of Holland is in his second year out of high school — the 7-foot-2, 225-pounder's eligibility clock already has been triggered. He will enroll now instead of this summer and use the remainder of this season as a redshirt year, affording him a chance to get an advanta- geous early start in Purdue's strength and con- ditioning program, which in turn should put him in a better position to possibly contribute next season. And he'll get to start practicing against Isaac Haas and Caleb Swanigan. "Sometimes you can talk to guys about what they need to do," Coach Matt Painter said of Haarms. "But when they can see it for them- selves, it hits home a little more." For Purdue, Haarms won't play in games this season, but the Boilermakers can use the ex- tra body in practice. With sophomore Jacquil Taylor sidelined well into the winter, Haas and Swanigan are Purdue's only two healthy true post players. — Brian Neubert Purdue Athletics Haarms is already on board and will have an advantage in that he's due to enroll in January because of an eligibility matter, but Purdue will look for a more physically equipped player, too. Australian Jacob Epperson may or may not fit that bill, but the 6-10, top-100 cen- ter from LaLumiere School in Northwest Indiana is being seriously recruited by the Boilermaker staff. Purdue also wants to add in-state shoot- ing guard Sasha Stefanovic to its class but scholarship availability is an issue. Painter and Co. have raised the possibility of him going to prep school and enrolling as part of the 2018 class, but it remains to be seen whether that scenario will materialize. j