Purdue men’s basketball once again heads into the transfer portal window in need of frontcourt help.
The transfer portal opened Tuesday and remains open through April 21. Players need only enter the portal by that date. When they choose a destination is up to them and their new school.
Matt Painter did his most crucial portal shopping early, locking up Princeton transfer Caden Pierce in February. Barring unexpected attrition – if such a thing can exist in the world of unrestricted free agency – Purdue’s portal experience could come down to a single domino effect.
Does Oscar Cluff’s decision affect Purdue’s transfer portal activity?
The program continues to pursue a sixth season of eligibility for Oscar Cluff, the Australian who started every game after transferring in from South Dakota State. However, that may be an uphill battle – not to mention an inconveniently lengthy one. Purdue has been in the process of applying for an eligibility waiver from the NCAA, but the timeline for any resolution remains murky.
While that process could lead to a sixth season for Cluff, it’s far from certain to conclude in his or Purdue’s favor. As he told IndyStar during the season, moving on to begin a pro career also has a lot of appeal.
Purdue has several other big man options already in the fold, with no red flags yet of a pending departure.
Daniel Jacobsen, the 7-foot-4 center, recently completed his second season in the program – though his first healthy one. After 6-10 Raleigh Burgess spent his second season on redshirt, he can help at both the 4 or 5. Sinan Huan, the 7-1 center competing at this week’s Nike Hoops Summit, comes in with the incoming freshman class.
That’s not a bad stack of options. However, that also means, without Cluff, the roster’s big man situation would include two players with significant lower-body injuries in their recent past and a freshman.
Purdue projects to be at 15 roster spots next season without Cluff or an addition. However, that includes walk-ons who are grandfathered in as exceptions to the 15-man limit. It will have the space to pursue a contingency plan.
If Cluff returning were more certain, an addition in the Liam Murphy mold would make sense. Someone at a specific positional need looking to level up and win in the Big Ten in their final season. Murphy’s impact was diminished by Jack Benter’s emergence as a viable option at the 4, but at the time he committed, the piece perfectly fit the puzzle.
If Cluff does not return, Purdue can possibly expand its targets – or, more to the point, its opportunity might become more attractive to a wider pool of candidates. Cluff averaged 10.6 points and 7.5 rebounds in his first – and still possibly only – Big Ten season. He also played his best consistent basketball down the stretch.
If he were expected to return, in addition to Purdue’s other post options, the best big men in the portal would understandably shy away.
With Cluff out of the mix, the opportunity for playing time grows, and the need becomes more acute. Purdue would then need to decide what balance to strike. Jacobsen and Burgess have already lost a season to injury and worked to be part of the program’s future. Painter is very intrigued by the player Huan can become as his offensive skills develop.
Could Purdue look at other positions in the transfer portal?
Purdue could add a guard if it loses one, perhaps. Right now, though, only about 46% of the minutes played by last year’s top five guards are coming back. Omer Mayer, C.J. Cox and Gicarri Harris can all play increased minutes while redshirt freshman Antione West Jr. and incoming freshman Luke Ertel step into significant roles.
A year ago, Myles Colvin and Camden Heide could look ahead and see the unlikelihood of their minutes increasing dramatically. That’s not true of all of the players above. Mayer’s agency already let it be known he’ll be back. Public declarations from others, while certainly not necessary, could be forthcoming.
Remember, though, Mayer was not in Purdue’s original plan for the 2025 class until last spring. The repercussions of that addition led to redshirting West, the other member of the signing class. All he did was impress everyone around the program with his talent and demeanor while pivoting to a much different plan than the one for which he signed up.
Could Purdue get involved with other positions if the right player became available? It would probably need to be worth it enough from a production standpoint to warrant interrupting development or making a returning player the odd man out.
Cluff was brought in to complete the potential championship DNA around a veteran, established core. Next season, even with limited roster turnover via the portal, is much more wide open.
Pierce may end up being the biggest transfer name Purdue adds, but it probably will not be the last.
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This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Purdue basketball recruiting: Transfer portal needs, roster decisions