Purdue Roundball Roundup: The ascent of PJ Thompson, Purdue’s new look and more

GoldandandBlack.com’s Purdue Roundball Roundup is our periodic Boilermaker basketball clearinghouse and analytical platform. In this end-of-summer edition, we look closely at Purdue’s roster transformation, staff changes and much more.

Purdue’s PJ Thompson (Photo: Jacob Wright)

A BIG CHANGE ON PURDUE’S STAFF

P.J. Thompson’s title still stands at “director of player development,” the job Purdue basically created for him to keep him around after his term as a graduate assistant coach expired a few years back. But he has been a far more influential figure in the Boilermakers’ preparation than that nebulous title or his place stuck sitting behind a table at practice or behind the bench during games would suggest.

He’s essentially been an assistant coach, insofar as NCAA rules allowed him to be.

Now, NCAA rules have changed, allowing two additional on-court coaches. For Purdue that’ll mean Thompson and first-year staffer Sasha Stefanovic, who holds the title of “director of player personnel.”

Basically fully privileged as a coach — before he could watch practice and film, but could only really instruct players away from practice, sometimes over the phone — Thompson is the focal point of a bit of a reorganization of Purdue’s staff.

Assistant coaches Paul Lusk and Terry Johnson will both work with the defense, adding resources and years of experience to that end of the floor and easing the burden on Lusk with time-consuming defensive scouting reports. Brandon Brantley will continue primarily focus on casing opponents’ personnel.

Thompson, just 27 years old, is now in charge of the offense, an immense testament to the trust Painter has in the program fixture.

“He’s very knowledgeable and he can relate to guys,” Painter said. “He’s very good at teaching. His dad (LaSalle) has always done individual workouts. When you’re raised in the game and you’re always paying attention — P.J. has always been a great listener — he has always known what’s on, but also does a great job articulating his message.”

From an offensive perspective, there may not be anyone who knows Purdue, or knows Painter, better. When Johnson came over from Ohio State to be involved in Purdue’s offense, Thompson was heavily involved in him learning the plays, terminology, etc.

Thompson has been a staple at Purdue, playing from 2014-2018, then coming back after a year playing overseas to be a G.A. for two seasons before taking on the player development role, which involved him in recruiting as well as individual workouts and other areas. That’s almost a full decade in the program, during which he’s worked with a bunch of different coaches and played with some of Purdue’s best players ever.

“Coach Painter recruited me since I was 14 years old,” Thompson said earlier this summer. “It’s funny because he could not be here (at practice) and I’ll kind of know what he’s thinking for practice that day, because I’ve been around him so long. We have a really good relationship, one that’s deeper than basketball but basketball being the root of our relationship. We think the same. I think we both know how to win, both know how to teach people, how to get the best out of people, and I’ve learned so much of that from him.

“I’m 27 and I’m still learning from him. That’s the cool thing about life and about basketball: You never stop learning. Being able to learn from someone of his stature still, 13 years later, that’s awesome to me. That’s something I want to continue to do the rest of my coaching career, even when he’s done. I’ll still be calling him. I’ll still be calling him, just like he has his guys he calls. He’ll always be that for me and he’ll be happy to (help).”

That day is a long way off, though.

In the meantime, Thompson transitions from his role not all that long ago orchestrating Purdue’s offense from his point guard position to now doing so from the bench. After spending last season mostly involved in specialty offensive situations, he’ll now be the Boilermakers’ play-caller, with Painter, of course, being deeply involved, as he’s been before with Greg Gary, Micah Shrewsberry and Johnson, those who’ve held that role since Painter moved to a coordinator model on his staff.

Purdue has placed in the top dozen nationally in offensive efficiency (via KenPom) since 2019. It was 12th last season.

That’s the standard as Thompson takes the reins for what should be one of the best teams in college basketball this season to come.

“It’s a big deal and a big job,” Thompson said, “but this is something I’ve always wanted. I’ve known this is what I was going to do my whole life and I have a great support system. This isn’t me by myself. I don’t have to reinvent the wheel here.

“My job is to put Purdue in the best positions to win. It’s something I’ve done as a player and as a member of our support staff. It’s no pressure. The only pressure is we just need to win, and those are the expectations going into every season no matter who’s running the show. That’s just the nature of how our culture is and what Purdue basketball is.”

PURDUE’S BRAND-NEW LOOK

If you ranked those on Purdue’s roster by athleticism, 1-2-3 would all be newcomers — in no particular order, Myles Colvin, Camden Heide and Lance Jones. (No. 4 might very well be Brian Waddell, who spent the majority of last season outside the playing rotation.)

That inlux of raw physical ability comes more or less in the same positional bucket, Jones’ point guard capabilities notwithstanding, and represents the biggest personnel transformation for this Boilermaker team from last season to this one.

“Their length and their athleticism is something we really need,” Painter said, specifically of Colvin, Heide and Waddell.

That means potential interchangeability on defense as Purdue adds a variety of similarly sized, and similarly athletic pieces to its switching dynamics, but also maybe some offensive dimensions it lacked last season, the potential to really put pressure on defenses in transition, putting the onus in particular to the run the floor hard as often as possible to either try to beat everyone down the floor and to the rim, or to fill the wing for either three-point looks or close-outs to attack off the dribble.

But also to get big, strong and athletic bodies “downhill” to the rim off screening action or ball movement enough to open up driving angles against scrambling defenders.

“Our principles will stay the same,” Thompson said. “Coach Painter has really found a system that works for him, that when the other scores we run a set and execute, but on misses, we like to run. Just having those athletes on the perimeter who can really run, really get up and down the court, that’s big. And they can shoot, which helps from a spacing standpoint.”

Purdue held Heide in particularly high regard during and after his redshirt season after his first summer on campus — and his senior season in prep school — were marred by injury. Now, Purdue has a healthy Heide, who’d be a real “first man off the bus” candidate on any team that didn’t have Zach Edey.

Colvin, meanwhile, is as talented a player as Matt Painter’s ever signed at Purdue, and fitting in nicely.

“I’ve never been around someone at Purdue that’s just 17 years old, but that sound,” Thompson said of Colvin. “He doesn’t force things. If he’s open he shoots it. If he isn’t he passes it. Most people that talented, that’s not the case. They always want to do more.”

The combination of Heide and Colvin gives Purdue a resource it has never had, perhaps ever. When Purdue’s had wing-type athletes of this caliber before — Nojel Eastern, Kelsey Barlow, to name a few — there’s normally been a skill deficiency of some kind.

Shooting, mainly.

For whatever results in Europe are worth, Colvin was 8-of-12 from three in three games and Heide was 3-for-3. That’s 73-percent shooting from a position bound to get open looks this season from opponents teeing off on Edey. Forty percent between the two would, quite honestly, be cause for celebration after last season’s shooting turbulence around Edey.

Think, too, what two rim-running finishers could mean for point guard Braden Smith.

“I think he’s he best point guard in the country with his ability to push the ball,’ Heide said prior ro the Europe trip. “… It’s just playing a lot off Braden. He likes to push the ball and can run, catch alley-oops, (diagonal cuts to the rim). Just finding ways to use my athleticism as an advantage, that’s how I’ve prepared for this year.”

TWO BIG MEN IN A LITTLE LANE

Trey Kaufman-Renn was Purdue’s de facto go-to guy in Europe, sans Edey, scoring 18 points per game, far and away a team-high. Had his foul shooting not gone sideways overseas (1-of-8), he might have exceeded 20 points per game in relatively balanced minutes.

He made some jumpers and scored off some drives, but the bulk of his scoring came around the basket, as it did last season.

As Purdue sets out to play Kaufman-Renn and Edey together more this season, it begs the question of whether the spacing can work.

“Yes,” Painter says, “because offense isn’t the issue. That’s never been the issue. He’s gotten some reps here defending people and is improving there, but he’s really had a good summer. He’s put a lot of work in and really dedicated himself to being good.

“His ability to post, his ability to score, it’s just something we can’t have enough of.”

It can be challenging, though, presumably, for side-by-side post scorers to operate together in a confined spaced, amidst the extra defenders one or the other — or both — might draw. To that end, Kaufman-Renn made three-point shooting one of his summer focuses.

This pairing is the scenario where Purdue might have some foundational actions. For example, Edey’s involvement in the Boilermakers’ dribble-handoff game could create opportunities for high-low openings for Kaufman-Renn to establish position at the rim. It’ll be a first, surely, when Edey records his first assist this season feeding the post.

Kaufman-Renn’s cutting ability will be put to the test also when Edey draws doubles from the 4. Same could theoretically apply to Edey if his wing man is productive enough to command the 5 to help. Either way, offensive rebounding opportunities could abound.

So much will depend, inevitably, on Kaufman-Renn’s ability to command respect as a three-point shooter, an essential skill at forward given the composition of Purdue’s roster. The 4 not only must stretch the floor to keep people out of Edey’s lap, but holds an important role as the “indirect” in the pick-and-roll game Purdue will likely turn to frequently again this season with Smith and Edey. The indirect is the player who cuts to the to the top of the arc behind the dive man, an action that has generated so many three-point looks for Boilermaker 4 men for years now.

Kaufman-Renn was 3-for-8 from three in Europe, but obviously wasn’t playing off Edey in so doing.

MISC

“I put stock in people who stay confident after they miss,” Painter said. “I think that’s more important because it’s fighting through. You could see last season, especially in our last game, we had people out on the court who did not want the ball. … You have to step up and take your shots and even when you miss, be confident in yourself.”

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