ROSEMONT, Ill. - Purdue’s trip to Big Ten Media Day on Thursday offered a clear look at where Matt Painter thinks this team stands: still sorting itself out, but loaded with enough returning pieces and new options to make the next few weeks feel like a real competition.
The Boilermakers are nearing their first exhibition game against Ball State, and Painter made it sound like the biggest question right now is not whether Purdue has talent, but which combination gives it the best five to start games. That process, he said, is far less settled than in recent years.
"There's going to be an argument as to who we start," Painter said. "Usually, it's not that much of an argument.
This is going to be an argument. No matter who we start, the other guys probably deserve to start, too."
Painter said he’ll lean on the lineups Purdue used in Canada as a reference point when exhibition play begins later this month, but he’s not locking himself into anything yet.
"I'll use those to kind of figure out what the hell we're doing. I might do different lineups, I could do the same lineup, I'm not sure," he said. "We scrimmage [Friday], so that'll be a good step."
This roster is in a transition phase after losing Braden Smith, Fletcher Loyer and Trey Kaufman-Renn, but Purdue still brings back 10 players from last season and has added French big man Enzo Shahrvin, Princeton transfer Caden Pierce and a highly-touted four-man recruiting class.
One of the most intriguing pieces is Daniel Jacobsen, who gives Painter a different kind of frontcourt weapon. Purdue has long built its identity around big men, but Jacobsen is not the classic Purdue post anchor. Painter stressed how much the 7-foot-4 center has grown.
"I think his movement for a guy who is 7-foot-4," Painter said. "He's really worked really hard at being a better post-up player.
He's never going to be a quintessential post-up guy, but when you're diving to the rim, and you don't get it, you've got to be able to duck in. If you can play from five feet and you're 7-foot and you've got a jump hook, you're going to be OK.
He has all those things."
That gives Purdue a center who can score inside, finish as a lob threat and also step away from the paint and knock down perimeter shots, which makes him a difficult matchup.
Painter also spent time talking about how much the college game has changed over his two decades in West Lafayette. With the transfer portal reshaping roster management, he said his approach remains rooted in straightforward communication rather than constant midseason conversations about the future.
"I just try to be honest and fair and communicate with them, talk to them about what's going on," Painter said. "A lot of times when they're upset about not playing, I agree with them. But I've only got 200 minutes, you know what I mean?
He said that honesty is part of why Purdue has been able to keep so much of its talent intact. His message is simple: roles have to be earned.
"Nobody is getting something promised to them through their agent, you're not going to get X amount of shots. Just keeping it there, and if they want to leave at the end of the year, we'll sit down and talk about it. If that's what they think is best, then so be it."
Painter also pointed to Jack Benter as a player who could matter more than people realize. Benter averaged 4.4 points and 2.6 rebounds last season and made his presence felt with hustle plays, but his value goes beyond the box score. Painter likes the junior’s ability to handle multiple roles.
"[He's been] shooting it deep, he's got deep range. He played point guard in high school, so he had the ball in his hands a lot," Painter said. "He's a little undersized at the four, but the matchup for us, getting another quality player on the court really helps us."
For now, Purdue is still figuring out what it wants to be offensively. Painter said the priority is not some fixed label, but the basics that decide possessions.
"Hopefully, it's that we don't turn the ball over and make good decisions," Painter said. "The pillars of the game don't change ... if you turn the ball over and can't rebound, you better shoot it well."
The identity will come later. For the moment, Purdue is still in the middle of the evaluation process, and the first real answers should start arriving once the Boilermakers face someone other than themselves.
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