The Purdue Boilermakers are dominating men’s college basketball again this year. With wins over Gonzaga and Duke in non-conference, their only loss was to Rutgers, a conference rival… by 1 point. The Boilermakers will almost undoubtedly show up again as a top 4 seed on this year’s NCAA tournament bracket. And they have managed to enter March Madness as a four seed or better every year since 2017. Purdue is a force to be reckoned with, but what is shocking about this year’s run is that they are doing it, without almost any projected NBA draft picks on their roster. 

Purdue recruited their backyard 

The secret to Purdue’s run as a college basketball power, is that they have mastered the art of recruiting to win college basketball games. Which for every major program, begins with locking down the top recruits in your state. Purdue currently has 10 players from their home state of Indiana on their roster, which is almost 2/3 of their entire team. And they not only get players from in state, but they are getting the best ones that Indiana has to offer. In 2022 they brought in 2 of the top 10 players ranked on 247 for the entire state, and in 2021, they locked down the top 2 players.

Purdue’s championship pedigree and Big Ten resources are incredibly attractive for any recruit. Which is why the only projected second round draft pick on their roster is actually from Canada by way of IMG academy. But if you are a top player in the state of Indiana, Purdue is very likely to give you a phone call. The key to their in state recruiting is that Purdue isn’t just looking for talented players, but those who can play their style of basketball. And that means that NBA hype alone is not enough to get the Boilermakers to move you to the top of their recruiting board. Instead of going after the same recruits that Duke and Kentucky continue to target, they find players who are ranked just a bit further below on the national boards, who can get the job done come March.

Purdue players don’t transfer

In the age of the transfer portal the Boilermakers have managed to outsmart the portal, at least until now. Their current team only has 1 transfer player on it, and he was a graduate transfer… which doesn’t really count in my book. And they’ve been able to hold onto their players so well that some have even redshirted their freshman years. The portal allows for college basketball free agency, but integrating a new player onto a team is always a steep learning curve. By recruiting and retaining their own players, their program identity has been able to establish itself without much interruption.

To put this in perspective, the Alabama Crimson Tide is also a top 5 ranked team entering mid January, but they have 6 transfer players on their roster. The Tennessee Volunteers have 3 transfer players and 2 JUCO transfers on their team. Purdue has no JUCO transfers, no regular transfers, and their 1 grad transfer plays fewer than 20 minutes per game. Purdue’s recruiting tactics have proven not only effective, but dominant in a landscape where the transfer portal is often viewed as a necessity by college coaches to stay competitive.

Purdue players don’t leave early

The truth without photoshop is that the longer a player stays in college, the more it is assumed that there is something wrong with that player as an NBA prospect. This is why programs like Duke are consistently cycling through one and done players on the way to competing for championships. But Purdue has strategically targeted players who are not in that category. Jayden Ivey is the only first round draft pick Purdue has produced since Caleb Swanigan was chosen in 2017. And the only other player to leave prior to their senior year was Carsen Edwards as a junior. Jayden Ivey was ranked 84th by ESPN recruiting entering college, and played his way into consideration for a lottery pick by his sophomore year.

The Bottom Line

When Ivey chose the Boilermakers he was actually the typical Purdue recruit. He was a top ranked player in Indiana who was an afterthought for Duke and Kentucky on their recruiting boards. For the most part, Purdue players will stay in college for four years, which gives them time to develop into amazing college basketball players. Although many of Purdue’s players don’t end up playing in the NBA, that is not the program’s goal. Their desire is to compete for a National Championship, and the Boilermakers have been right there almost every year in recent history.

Purdue is proving that to win at the college level you don’t really need the transfer portal. For that matter you don’t really need projected NBA draft picks. All you need is talented basketball players, of which there are several hundred available annually. And get 3 of them each year, to commit  to buying into a championship culture. And if they stick with your program long enough, you should be dancing well into the month of March.

KNOW THE GAME. WIN THE GAME.

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