Men's College Basketball 2021-2022 Season Preview: Purdue Boilermakers

The Big 10 will be going through some changes in men’s college basketball up top this season, as household names like Ayo Dosunmu and Luka Garza are off to the NBA. There is still plenty of star power though, as Juwan Howard has brought in an elite recruiting class at Michigan, our guy Trevion Williams is back for his swan song season at Purdue. and even the bottom half of the conference has useful fantasy options sprinkled throughout.

Big 10 slates are a grind, so getting a head start on info about this conference will serve you well in putting you above the rest of the field. Join me on this journey as we preview the Big 10 teams from a DFS perspective.

In this one, Purdue.

(Check out our full college basketball season preview!)

Purdue Boilermakers 2021-2022 Season Preview

2020-2021 record: 18-10 (13-6 Big 10), fourth in Big 10
Postseason: Lost in NCAA Tournament first round

Key Departures | Purdue Boilermakers

Aaron Wheeler (transferred to St. Johns)

Key Additions | Purdue Boilermakers

Caleb Furst (top 70 recruit)
Trey Kaufman (top 50 recruit)

Returners | Purdue Boilermakers

Trevion Williams (15.5 PPG/9.1 RPG/2.3 APG)
Jaden Ivey (11.1 PPG/3.3 RPG/1.9 APG)
Eric Hunter (8.5 PPG/2.2 RPG/1.1 SPG)
Brandon Newman (8 PPG/3.5 RPG)
Sasha Stefanovic (9.3 PPG/2.6 RPG/2.6 APG)
Mason Gillis (5.2 PPG/4.1 RPG/1.3 APG)
Zach Edey (8.7 PPG/4.4 RPG)
Isaiah Thompson (4.2 PPG/1.4 RPG)
Ethan Morton (0.6 PPG/0.8 RPG)

Purdue Boilermakers Outlook for 2021-2022

The Boilermakers bring back immense depth and are in a great position to make a deep tournament run. With Matt Painter at the helm and plenty of experience, a Final Four appearance isn’t out of the question at all with this group. They’ve really only lost Aaron Wheeler from last year and in college basketball continuity is extremely important, more than people like to admit.

It starts with our guy Trevion Williams. The slept-on star that just doesn’t get enough recognition from the non-fantasy portion of the world. T-Will had the No. 1 shot rate in the country last year at 36.7% and the second highest usage rate at 35.4%. He was an elite rebounder, especially on the offensive glass where he possessed a 17.5% rate, which was fourth best in D1. He was also top 200 in assist rate and top 75 in fouls drawn rate. When it comes to DFS options, you won’t find one better than T-Will on a game-to-game basis. The quick two-foul hook sometimes can ruin a slate, but he has improved upon his fouls-called-per-40 rate since his freshman year. If he can stay on the floor for 27-plus minutes consistently, this team will smash.

Super sophomore Jaden Ivey is on major breakout watch and is getting the most hype of any other player on this squad. His usage/shot rates were in the upper 20s, and he has proven to be a dynamic athlete that can excel by racking up peripheral stats in addition to his scoring prowess. Ivey isn’t the only player on this roster making that typical frosh-to-soph leap though, and expanded roles are expected for seven-footer Zach Edey, sharpshooter Brandon Newman and excellent offensive rebounder Mason Gillis.

Edey flashed major upside last year, and the staff felt comfortable going to him for long stretches when T-Will had to sit on the bench in foul trouble. At 7-foot-4, he was an excellent rim protector as you can imagine and really came on during the last month of the season. He scored 20-plus points twice in his last four games and scored in double figures in six of Purdue’s last 10 contests. I would expect much more consistency for him in Year 2. Newman was a 38% three-point shooter, and I would expect him to be one of their best from long range in 2021. Gillis is talented but clearly went through freshman slumps, which is to be expected. He is sneaky good from beyond the arc — having shot around 35% — and should see his minutes grow this season.

This team is perfectly built around Williams and even Edey, as the Boilermakers are full of snipers from long range. In addition to Newman, they also have Sasha Stefanovic (40% 3p shooter) and Isaiah Thompson (39% 3p shooter). Top-100 recruits Trey Kaufman and Caleb Furst may see inconsistent minutes at first, but they’re definitely worth monitoring. Furst is a 6-foot-10, highly skilled big who showed he is capable of punishing lazy defenders from distance during U19 USA games but is also fully capable of playing above the rim down low. Spending a year as T-Will’s understudy will be massive for his future.

(Check out our rankings of the top 100 teams, top 100 players and top 25 impact freshmen for men’s college basketball in 2021-2022.)

Summary

Purdue has legit conference title aspirations and beyond. With great coaching, elite defense, star power, experience and consistent shooting there is no reason at all to doubt them. This is a team we will be targeting often for our DFS builds.