LAS VEGAS - Gonzaga is opening the season with a familiar problem in front of it: Purdue’s center is enormous, skilled and hard to game-plan for.
That was the same kind of conversation Mark Few had two years ago when Zach Edey stood between the Bulldogs and an Elite Eight berth. Now, with Purdue on the schedule again for Monday’s season opener at T-Mobile Arena, Few is facing another towering Boilermaker in 7-foot-4, 250-pound junior Daniel Jacobsen.
“Skilled and just kind of that entity you don’t face every night in college basketball,” Few said Friday. “I don’t even know if we’ll face it again after this.”
The matchup brings back memories of Purdue’s run of elite big men under Matt Painter. The Boilermakers have leaned on a long line of imposing centers, from 7-foot AJ Hammons to 7-2 Isaac Haas to 7-3 Matt Haarms and then Edey. Jacobsen is the next one up, and he steps into the role left by 6-11 Oscar Cluff, who averaged 10.5 points and 7.6 rebounds during Purdue’s trip to the Elite Eight.
This time, though, Jacobsen is not arriving as a finished product. He averaged just 13 minutes and six points across his freshman and sophomore seasons, and Monday will be one of the biggest tests of his career before he even gets to Purdue’s Big Ten schedule.
Gonzaga is bringing its own new look in the frontcourt, with 6-foot-10 Braden Huff and 7-foot-1 Massamba Diop set to debut together. Purdue could answer with Jacobsen and 6-foot-7 Alec Pierce, Huff’s longtime friend and former Glenbard West High School teammate.
Last week, Diop and Jacobsen were both placed on the preseason Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center Award watch list. Huff and Pierce were among the 20 players named to the Karl Malone Power Forward Award watch list.
Huff said his familiarity with both Purdue frontcourt starters could matter on Monday. He has known Pierce since fifth grade and recently spent time getting to know Jacobsen during offseason workouts sponsored by Priority Sports. Huff, Pierce and Jacobsen are all clients of the Chicago-based agency.
“He’s a good dude, excited to compete against him,” Huff said of Jacobsen. “Obviously he’s huge and he’s got nice touch around the rim.
He even will go out and shoot it a little bit. And at that length, he blocks shots and is good defensively around the rim, too.
So poses a good challenge for us but excited to go out and compete against those guys and it’s a good test for us first game.”
How the pieces line up is still a little murky. If Purdue matches size with size, Jacobsen would likely open on Diop, which could create room for Huff to attack a defense that would be giving up more offense at that spot. On the other side, Pierce would be the clear size mismatch, surrendering about 5 inches to Huff and 7 inches to Diop.
That could still help Purdue offensively. The Boilermakers can use Pierce as a cutter and a 3-point threat to stretch the floor.
The bench could matter as well. Gonzaga has 6-10 Spanish forward Izan Almansa available, while Purdue can turn to 6-11 redshirt sophomore Raleigh Burgess and/or 6-foot-9 French senior Enzo Shahrvin.
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