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to your program that can really stretch the defense and is always a threat. mendous flexibility in its back- court, Painter said. Scott will give Purdue tre- " tially recruited with point guard in mind, but his prolific scoring acu- men makes him just as logical fit to play away from the ball. With current freshman Ron- The 6-1 combo guard was ini- Scott averaged better than 25 points as a junior. He was recruit- ed primarily to play point guard but is well suited also to play in a shooting guard role. Matt Painter likes that Scott's versatility will give Purdue the option to use multiple point guards at once. The 6-foot-1 guard already possesses a college body and strength and might be the most gifted backcourt scorer the Boilermakers have signed since E'Twaun Moore, because of his ability to score off the dribble or with his pull-up game. His demeanor and strength sug- gest he might be a very good defender one day, as well. Basil Smotherman 6-7 • 210 • Indianapolis Lawrence North A highly athletic and physically imposing forward, Smother- Bryson Scott 6-1 • 180 • Fort Wayne Northrop A high-scoring and ultra-aggressive and tough-minded guard, 2013 PURDUE SIGNEES Twin brothers Bryson and Brenton Scott are each staying in Indiana to play college basketball. Bryson (right) signed with Purdue Wednesday, while Brenton (left) signed with Indiana State. nie Johnson likely to be en- trenched at point guard, Painter is intrigued with the options he might soon have. The toughness and inten- man will begin his Purdue career as a wing but could develop into a power forward type. Coming off a big summer in which he shot the ball very well from the perimeter, the lefty is still growing physi- cally and evolving as a player as he outgrows the guard positions he grew up playing. Kendall Stephens 6-6 • 180 • St. Charles (Ill.) East With range extending well beyond the three-point arc, Ste- phens is one of the elite shooters in the 2013 high school class, with height enough to get his shot over virtually anyone. He comes from good stock, the son of former Purdue star Everette Stephens. A shoulder injury might cost him his senior season in high school. — Brian Neubert can really be a bird-dog-type de- fender. It will take some time but I do think he has that upside on the defensive end. sity Scott is known to play with should fit well at Purdue, also, Painter hopes. "I think if you look at (play- ing) two quality point guards together in college basketball, especially in the last 10 years, it's really been successful for teams, Painter said. "Any time you have guys who can break people down off the dribble in a variety of posi- tions it can be very tough to de- fend. (Scott's) pull-up and threes have both really improved. So I think with his strength and his ability to break people down, he " Painter had described Scott's demeanor this way: "He'll bite your head off. " er, " Painter said. "He's had a couple instances where he's jumped over the fight and I think that's great because he's a competitive guy and guys like that in our program have been very successful. I em- brace guys that are really compet- itive and I like that part of them. He's just got to make sure that he doesn't jump over the fight some- times or get too wound up. How- ever, that's encouraging to me be- cause I love competitive guys. "He's a very competitive play- " many guys you get and sign and af- ter you've had them for two or three months, you wonder how much they really like basketball. I know we're getting a guy who loves to play basketball in Bryson Scott. two most known commodities of the signees, though that's not to say Smotherman isn't. It's just that the 6-foot-7 for- Stephens and Scott are the " ward is still growing in more ways than one: Both physically and as a player. The left-hander is an out- standing athlete and has shown significant progress in recent months as a defender and re- bounder, while coming off a sum- mer in which he shot the ball very well from three-point range. He might play the wing in "You'd be surprised at how college, but he might also grow into the undersized power for- ward role Purdue has featured in recent seasons. "Bringing him in I would say we start to work with him in just total guard skills, "and if his body continues to morph the way I think it's going to, I really think a guy like him gives us an advantage. " Painter said, "j GOLDANDBLACK EXPRESS • VOLUME 23, EXPRESS 11 • 36