Robbie Hummel’s knee injury in late February 2010 still hangs over Purdue’s season like one of the biggest what-ifs in program history.
Before Hummel tore his ACL at Williams Arena on Feb. 24, the Boilermakers were rolling at 24-3 and looked every bit like a team built for a deep March run. Purdue finished 27-5, won the Big Ten regular-season title and still made it to the Sweet 16, but the injury changed the shape of everything that followed - especially when the NCAA Tournament bracket came out.
The Boilermakers landed a No. 4 seed, paired in the same bracket with top-seeded Duke. Purdue beat Siena and Texas A&M to get to the Sweet 16, then ran into the Blue Devils, who went on to win the national championship.
That seeding has long invited a simple question: did Purdue get shortchanged?
Hummel revisited that stretch in an interview with Jimmer Fredette on From the Logo, and he didn’t hide how different things felt once the injury hit.
"Even though we made the Sweet 16 my junior year, I had blown my knee out in late February. We won the Big Ten that year, and it kinda dampened that in terms of the celebration," Hummel said. "And then, seeing us get knocked from a No. 1 seed, because we were 24-3 and probably about to be ranked the No. 1 team in the country the following week because teams No. 1 and No. 2 had lost.
"We were about to be the No. 1 team in the country, I blow my knee out, we lose to Michigan State. They knocked us down to a four seed.
That's one where we should have just lied. We should have said, 'He might be back.'"
Hummel’s point is easy to follow. Purdue’s résumé still looked strong enough that a better seed was at least in play.
The Boilermakers finished with a better overall record than seven of the eight teams that were seeded No. 2 or No. 3, with New Mexico the only exception at 29-4. Purdue also owned the Big Ten regular-season crown and had a roster led by JaJuan Johnson, E'Twaun Moore and Chris Kramer.
Even with all of that, the injury appears to have pushed Purdue down at least two lines on the seed sheet. The Boilers also took a rough 69-42 loss to Minnesota in their second Big Ten Tournament game, but their body of work had already been enough to suggest a stronger NCAA draw.
Hummel said as much when he pointed back to Purdue’s résumé.
"But then we play Duke, who wins the whole thing," Hummel said. "But if we were seeded based on what our resumé said - we had beaten four top-10 teams, two on the road and one neutral."
What Purdue lost in 2010 remains impossible to measure with certainty. Without Hummel, the Boilermakers were not built to chase a national title. But the bigger question has always been whether a healthier roster and a more favorable seed might have changed the ceiling entirely.
The years after that only kept the conversation alive. Purdue had other chances to break through, including the 2019 run led by Carsen Edwards, but that team fell one win short in the Elite Eight against Virginia.
Then, 14 years after Hummel’s injury, Purdue finally made it back to the Final Four in 2024, ending a drought that stretched back to 1980. Hummel was part of that moment too, working on the radio call when Purdue beat Tennessee in the Elite Eight to seal the trip.
“I care about this school,” Hummel told WISHTV after Purdue's Elite Eight win in 2024. “I care about Coach (Matt) Painter.
I care about all of the assistants. You put so much time into a place, and I love Purdue University.
It’s a special place. We’ve got a special group of fans.”
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