Matt Painter:

The Eagles sport a deep and athletic roster that’s gotten them a 14-0 record and the top spot in 1-A boys basketball. They’ve also got DeJuan Marrero, whom I presume Painter was present to watch.

Some vitals: Marrero is a sophomore, listed at 6-foot-5, which seems about right. Rivals and Bowman both have him as a forward, and he’s thus far received offers from Indiana, Illinois, Purdue and Ohio State, and interest from Michigan, Kentucky and Wake Forest. So dude’s a recruiting magnet with more than two years left to polish his game.

Painter might have had cause to leave South Bend a little bit disappointed, as Marrero spent most of the game on the bench with foul trouble. But Marrero got onto the floor for good in the fourth quarter, and his coach even left him out there when he pulled the rest of Bowman’s starters, presumably to make sure that the kid got good exposure in front of a Big Ten coach.

Marrero didn’t disappoint either, dropping 11 points in the final period to finish with 13 and 11 rebounds. My unofficial tally had him at 5-of-12 from the floor, and 1-of-2 from behind the arc. I might be off on the 3-pointers, but it stood out that the kid didn’t waste shots from behind the 3-point line — he did a good job of attacking the rim and taking what was given to him.

As with most high school games that are overwhelmingly one-sided, it was hard to really get a sense of how Marrero would fit into a traditional small forward role. Washington really didn’t have anyone that could guard him, (or anyone. Teammate Chris Bond pulled down a triple-double on the Panthers) so Marrero spent a lot of time scoring inside off layups and putbacks against a team with no real way of stopping a player of his size and ability.

But he did move well with the ball, he was judicious in shot selection and his range is legitimate.

Sorry I can’t offer a more in-depth look, I’m not the most skilled at breaking down recruits. But considering I got an up-close look at a guy for whom Alex had high praise, (and Alex does know what he’s talking about) I thought it important to bring it up.

See everybody on Saturday.

+ Chris Korman writes that signing day went off without much excitement in Bloomington. (The Hoosier Scoop)

+ Tom Izzo is excited about his four man class — Adrien Payne, Keith Appling, Russell Byrd and Alex Gauna — in East Lansing (Detroit Free Press)

+ Michigan signee Evan Smotrycz penned the first entry in his diary at our favorite Michigan hoops site. (UM Hoops)

+ Matt Painter calls his recruiting class “great for our needs.” (Purdue Official Site)

+ Bruce Weber received Letters of Intent from three top 100 recruits in Champaign. (Chicago Tribune)

+ Ohio State’s class is being touted as No. 1 nationally and it’s headlined by Jared Sullinger and Deshaun Thomas. (Ohio State Official Site)

+ Adam Hoge writes that as the Big Ten gets stronger, Bo Ryan’s recruiting is putting Wisconsin in a hole. (Bucky’s 5th Quarter)

+ Jody Demling wrapped up the first day of the early signing period with a live blog. (Louisville Courier-Journal)

+ Dave Telep breaks down signing day from a national perspective. (Scout.com)

In one year under Matt Painter at Purdue, Robbie Hummel has done everything one could have expected, and more: He’s made First Team All-Big Ten as a freshman; he made the list of finalists for both the John Wooden and Oscar Roberston national awards; he started 31 times and averaged 11 points, six rebounds, and two assists a game. For all intents and purposes, Robbie Hummel was The Man last year.

As impressive as Hummel’s accomplishments were how quietly he went about them. I’ll be honest: Purdue is in the same state as our Hoosiers, and not only was I only vaguely aware of Hummel, I was often viscerally bored by him. I say that less to insult him and more to criticize my own basketball intelligence, but it’s true: Watching Robbie Hummel is never interesting the way, say, watching Eric Gordon, or even a roughshod banger like Tyler Hansbrough, is. But if Hummel can expand on his success — he was named Big Ten preseason player of the year this year — I doubt he, or Painter, or Purdue fans will much care.

You can listen to the rest of the teleconferences over at the Big Ten Network.

There a couple of things you need to know about the 2007-2008 version of the Purdue Boilermakers. First, they’ve got an outstanding crop of home grown freshmen. Second, they’ve shown the capability of knocking off a respectable team. They beat Louisville on a neutral court and lost a close game at Clemson. Third, they’ve done what young teams do in college hoops: lose games they should have won. For example, they lost at home to Wofford and to Iowa State on a neutral court. And one final thing, Matt Painter has the best hair of any coach in the league.

So what should we expect out of our friends in West Lafayette? A young, inconsistent team that will improve throughout the season.

Purdue’s top six players are freshmen (Scott Martin, Robbie Hummel, E’Twaun Moore and JaJuan Johnson) or sophomores (Keaton Grant and Chris Kramer). Out of that group, the most impressive contributor at this early juncture of the season has been Martin, a Valpo product. He’s a crafty lefty who looks to create his own shot. He’s still learning to adjust to the physical play at the collegiate level, but when it’s all said and done, he’ll be an All-Big Ten performer.

Grant is a solid second option that can hit the three and can also defend. Kramer is a bit of a head case at times, but he is also a hard nosed player that takes pride in guarding the opposing team’s best player as well as diving after loose balls. Hummel, Martin’s high school teammate at Valpo, is an excellent free throw shooter and passer. Moore, who you might remember helped knock off Eric Gordon for the Indiana state title, has struggled with his shot early in the season but will definitely improve. And finally, Johnson is by default Purdue’s best shot blocker and the closest thing they have to an inside presence.

The bottom line: By the time March arrives, I would expect Painter and staff to have this team knocking on the door of an NCAA birth. The Boilermakers should take care of business at home in conference play and if they can put together an 11-7 mark in the Big Ten, 20 wins should be enough to provide a legitimate chance at the Big Dance.

Read the rest of our Big Ten Preview:

• Ohio State
• Minnesota
• Penn State
• Michigan
• Iowa
• Northwestern

Crawfordsville is located approximately 30 miles south of West Lafayette and its no secret that Byrd grew up rooting for Purdue. Therefore, this news comes as no surprise to many.

There’s no question that Painter and staff are stockpiling talent from inside the state. His 2007 class featured four Indiana All-Stars in E’Twaun Moore, Scott Martin, Robbie Hummel and Jajuan Johnson.

And now with Byrd in the fold, Painter’s attention will turn to Lawrence North’s Stephan Van Treese (an AAU teammate of Byrd’s) and Tipton’s Derek Elston who are also primary IU targets for the 2009 class. These recruiting battles between Painter and Coach Sampson will only add more fuel to the revived rivalry between IU and Purdue.

Front and center for Elston’s performance for SYF were Purdue head coach Matt Painter and Indiana assistant Rob Senderoff. Elston showed off nice footwork, a knack for loose balls and above average quickness for a big man. Unofficially, the Tipton native scored 10 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in the contest I saw.

Stephan Van Treese (pictured), also drew a nice crowd of coaches for his appearance with his Indiana Elite One team. Along with Senderoff and Painter, representatives from Marquette, Kentucky, Iowa and Butler took in the action. Van Treese did nothing but reinforce the fact that he’s probably the top big man out of the Hoosier state in the 2009 class. Van Treese showed explosive moves towards the basket as well as solid hands for a big man, despite recently coming back from an injury.

The third and perhaps the most intriguing prospect at the event was Ray McCallum Jr., son of IU assistant coach Ray McCallum. Ray Jr., who will be a sophomore at Bloomington North, looks like a can’t miss point-guard prospect. He has an above average handle, exceptional court vision and was by far the quickest player on the court.

McCallum Jr. looked to set up his Indiana Elite One teammates first, which is what I liked about him the most. When he did look for his offense, he was blowing past defenders for easy layups. The only thing I didn’t get to see was a jump shot, but he did show a nice stroke from the free throw line.

So there you have it, my first experience on the recruiting trail. Hope you enjoyed.

GoldandBlack.com has learned that Coach Matt Painter and his Boilermakers will play Indiana and Minnesota only once during the 2007-08 season. Sites for those games have not yet been announced.

It will be the third time Purdue and Indiana have met just once in Big Ten play in a season since the conference post-season tournament began in 1998. After meeting in 2001-02 only once (in Assembly Hall), the following season they met once in Mackey and once in what is now the RCA Dome, the latter of which didn’t count in the league standings. The Boilermakers will play Indiana and Minnesota only once during the 2007-08 season. Sites for those games have not yet been announced.

This is the swift and sway of Big Ten basketball. Due to the sheer volume of squads and odd number of them, you don’t get every team twice a year. It’s a shame, because with the solid recruiting class Purdue snagged for this upcoming season, it would have been nice to see the Boilermakers twice this season. Wake up the rivalry a little, if you will.

Personally, I just wanted to see Matt Painter’s perfect hair more.