Purdue’s four-game trip to Canada starts Saturday night, and the Boilermakers will waste no time giving fans a look at this new group. The first two games on the schedule will be available to watch, while the third is expected to be streamed once details are finalized. Purdue’s final game in Canada will not be available via stream.
The timing makes sense for a team that is still being put together. Matt Painter is replacing four starters from last season’s 30-9 team that reached the Elite Eight, and almost everyone on the roster is stepping into a different role. Purdue also brings six new players into the 2026-27 campaign, including freshmen Luke Ertel, Sinan Huan, Jacob Webber and Rivers Knight, along with Princeton graduate transfer Caden Pierce and French big man Enzo Shahrvin.
Shahrvin has joined the team, but he has not been ruled eligible by the NCAA and Purdue does not expect that issue to be resolved before the trip. That means he will not play in Canada.
Even with that absence, the trip gives Purdue a chance to build chemistry in a live setting before the regular season arrives in November. It also gives the younger players a first taste of what the next level looks like.
Painter made clear why he values the opportunity.
"Just the overall experience is always beneficial," Painter told reporters on Tuesday. "Guys are getting to play games, especially guys who are incoming, guys who have redshirted or guys who haven't played as much. You want to be successful, but when you have some guys who have experience, we don't necessarily have that experience together."
He also likes the level of competition Purdue is expected to see.
"It'll be better. When we go overseas, we're not getting the best talent now," he said.
"You used to 20 years ago. Now, you get teams in flux.
They don't have their Americans there, they don't have their better players there ... Here, you're going to face an enhanced college team."
In Other News...
Purdues Canada Opener Offered An Encouraging First Look At This Roster
The opening game of Purdues four-game trip in Canada gave the Boilermakers an encouraging first look at a roster still taking shape. Against the Vancouver Selects, they played with a faster tempo, leaned into aggressive perimeter defense and found enough rhythm offensively to spread the scoring around, with five players finishing in double figures.
Antione West Jr. and Gicarri Harris led the way with 20 points apiece, and the shot volume from deep hinted at the kind of pace this group may want to carry on the trip. There were still some familiar early-tour blemishes, including turnovers and a few slow rotations, but the bigger takeaway for Purdue was how many different pieces were able to contribute while the offense kept moving. [Read more 🡒]
Purdue Rolls Again In Canada As Young Boilers Keep Impressing
Purdue kept rolling north of the border with an 82-66 win over Trinity Western University in its second game of the Canada trip, and the early takeaway was the same one that has been easy to spot throughout the exhibition run: the Boilermakers are getting real production from a lot of different places. They piled up 13 steals, controlled the glass with 41 rebounds and knocked down 14 threes, with four players finishing in double figures as Daniel Jacobsen, Antione West Jr., Gicarri Harris and Jack Benter all made their mark.
The part that should matter most to Purdue fans is how much of that production is coming from the younger end of the roster. Matt Painter leaned on a group that included freshmen Jacob Webber and Luke Ertel along with redshirt sophomores Jack Benter and Raleigh Burgess to close things out, and they helped keep the lead comfortable. For a team trying to build depth before the games start counting for real, that kind of contribution is exactly the sort of sign Painter wants to see. [Read more 🡒]