GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 28, ISSUE 3 53
BY BRIAN NEUBERT
BNeubert@GoldandBlack.com
I
f there's been any one moment
that's summed up Matt Haarms'
stunning debut season at
Purdue, it occurred in the
Bahamas around Thanksgiving,
as part of the game that might have
changed the Boilermakers' season.
Coming off back-to-back unex-
pected losses at the Battle 4 At-
lantis, Purdue was playing in an
even-more-unexpected last-place
game against then-No. 2 Arizona,
pitting the Boilermaker frontcourt
against Wildcat prodigy Deandre
Ayton, who's a few months from be-
ing the first or second pick in the
NBA draft and probably a few years
away from earning more than the
GDP of some small countries to play
basketball.
He's one of the most talented
players and influential presences in
college basketball and will be for a
couple more months at least.
In this particular instance, Ayton
sized up Purdue's skinny-looking
young big man who no one had
ever heard of at that early juncture
of the season, dribbled into a post-
up, faked inside, then spun outside
to shoot a baseline turnaround over
Haarms.
Ayton is 7-foot-1, by the way.
REVELATION
Matt Haarms
has changed
Purdue's season
and had a blast
doing it
Charles
Jischke