Breakdown: Day 1 of the evaluation period at the adidas 3SSB event
ROCK HILL, S.C. — Coaches came through the doors at the adidas 3SSB Palmetto Road championships even in Rock Hill Friday, spending a long day watching players, yawning and texting as the first July evaluation period commenced.
Here are four thoughts and/or notes on the day’s action.
WHERE WAS PURDUE?
Matt Painter opened the evaluation period, predictably, here in Rock Hill, at an adidas event with an outsized share of Purdue’s prime targets for the next two classes.
Obviously, his first stop was to see 2025 targets Braylon Mullins and Trent Sisley in their morning game, a much-needed Indiana Elite win in which both Mullins and Sisley were excellent, each scoring 22 points. Sisley did it on 10-of-12 shooting; Mullins was 9-of-16, with four threes. It was the best of both players.
Among the head coaches present for Mullins were Mark Pope, Dusty May and Dan Hurley; Painter and Micah Shrewsberry were there for both.
Painter later watched established 2026 targets Steven Reynolds III and Taylen Kinney and a slew of other 2026 and ’27 prospects.
Paul Lusk joined Painter in South Carolina. Brandon Brantley spent Friday at the NBA Academy in Atlanta before Saturday’s tip-off of Nike’s Peach Jam in Augusta. Notably, Purdue 2025 target Antione West will not be playing at the Peach Jam, as he’ll shut down now for the rest of the month.
P.J. Thompson patrolled an event in Phoenix Friday and is expected in South Carolina during the weekend.
Jamyn Sondrup
BIG MAN TARGETS EMERGING IN 2026
Among the Class of 2026 players Painter made an effort to watch Friday were Utah’s Jamyn Sondrup — more on him here — and Benjamin Ahmed of Connecticut, by way of Nigeria. He came to the U.S. in 2022.
Both are big and strong, but skilled and relatively light-afoot centers with high-major offers already. Sondrup in an excellent three-point shooter, combined with a low-post presence, passing skills and strong enough hands to compel Purdue to compare him to Trevion Williams.
Painter and Lusk also watched a game that involved 2026 Tennessee big man Trey Thompson, a 6-8ish perimeter sort of 4/5 man who has shown through this event thus far to be a high-energy big man who can dribble, pass and really shoot. He has mid- and low-major offers thus far, with Clemson and Virginia being two high-majors who’ve been interested too.
TAY KINNEY IS ERUPTING
Purdue is recruiting point guards here, there and everywhere for 2026, which will be Year 1 post-Braden Smith, but Taylen Kinney was the first absolute priority established, for good reason. He’s an elite player in his class.
Oregon and Villanova added to Kinney’s long list of offers on Friday. In the afternoon, he drew Painter, Jake Diebler, Sean Miller and Pat Kelsey, among others.
This whole week in Rock Hill, Kinney has been just overmatching opponents with his explosive first step — weaponized by his dangerous jump-shooting and stellar shot creation — and his knack for using his size and strength to wall people off. He has been simply deciding to go to the foul line whenever he wants, seems like. He was 13-of-13 in his game today.
PURDUE IS RECRUITING GREAT PLAYERS IN 2026
These players Purdue is offering and watching in the rising-junior class, they all seem to be pretty prominent players who’ll have schools fighting over them.
Purdue has won its share of those battles over the years and now comes armed with a Final Four appearance and growing line of All-Americans to its credit.
That said, Indiana may yield just one clear 2026 target (Reynolds), so coaches are going to have to look far and wide, as you’re seeing with these targets being from all over the place — Texas, Utah,, Florida, Connecticut, etc.
Junior-year official visits may matter this year for Purdue as much as any year, because these aren’t going to be players who can hope in the car to visit whenever.
Official visit limits are now a thing of the past, so go crazy, kids,
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