One of the most recurring jokes in college basketball involves Purdue head coach Matt Painter and his affinity for height. Except it’s not a joke.
The Boilermakers consistently produce one of the tallest teams in the country.
This year is not the exception. Purdue recently released its official team photo for the upcoming college basketball season and it really puts things into perspective.
Purdue is a national title contender.
The Boilermakers were recently picked to win the Big Ten for the third-straight year in the annual preseason media poll. Although preseason rankings mean absolutely nothing, it just goes to show that Painter has a team that must deliver results. Expectations are sky high.
Although Purdue does have to navigate a few departures from last year’s starting lineup, like Caleb Furst, it returns most of its talent from a team that won 24 games and reached the Sweet 16.
Braden Smith might be the best point guard in the country. He and Fletcher Loyer have a rapport in the backcourt. Trey Kaufman-Renn is coming off of a major breakout campaign in place of Zach Edey. C.J. Cox has another year under his belt. Oscar Cluff put up big numbers at South Dakota State.
That projected starting lineup doesn’t even mention guys like true freshman sharpshooter Antione West Jr., three-point specialist Liam Murphy from North Florida or top-100 sophomore Daniel Jacobsen, among others. This team is deep.
The Boilermakers are extremely tall.
Purdue posted its official team photo earlier this week. The back row is ridiculous.
Just to put this height in perspective, the player standing on the far right of the back row is true freshman Omar Mayer wearing No. 17. He is 6-foot-4.
On his left is Liam Murphy wearing No. 5 at 6-foot-8. If we are to move toward the middle, they just keep getting taller.
- No. 4 — Trey Kaufman-Renn, 6-foot-9
- No. 45 — Oscar Cluff, 6-foot-11
- No. 12 — Daniel Jacobsen, 7-foot-4
- No. 34 — Raleigh Burgess, 6-foot-11
- No. 7 — Sam King, 6-foot-9
- No. 14 — Jack Benter, 6-foot-6
The shortest player on the roster is Jace Rayl at 5-foot-11. 10 of 16 players on the team are 6-foot-4 or taller. Three are listed at 6-foot-3. Braden Smith is only 6-foot-0 but he plays a lot bigger.