The All-Big Ten preview is ITH’s look at our picks for the top players in the Big Ten this season. Today: Robbie Hummel of Purdue.

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.

That’s right. I said it.

Friend of ITH Wrigleyville sent along this letter to the editor in the Purdue Exponent today from a Purdue fan angry at interim coach-to-be Dan Dakich’s anti-engineer comments before the Illinois game. If you’ll remember, Dakich told Eric Gordon that if “an engineering student from Wilmette is going to bother you, you’re not as tough as I thought.” Zing! Of course, one Purdue alum (pictured right) won’t stand for that sort of rhetoric, and is planning hissubversive action at tomorrow night’s game:

Pull out all the stops in supporting our Boilers on Feb. 19. It’s becoming clearer that IU will execute their contingency plan quickly and put Dan Dakich in as head coach to make what they can out of this year. We need to find ways to road trip to Bloomington and pick up tickets from disenfranchised Hoosiers (there are many of them now). Dakich has been a critic of engineers for the last 25 years. His most recent slam at engineers was a few weeks ago as IU prepared for the Illini: www.wrigleyville23.com/2008/02/dan-dakich-gets-off-good-one.html.

Nick Miller
Alumnus

That would so, like, totally work, except Nick apparently missed Saturday night’s game, one of the rowdier Assembly Hall environments in recent years. If IU fans were disenfranchised, this might work, but we’re not, so it won’t. Oh, and if a former IU basketball player is going to bother you, Nick, you’re not the engineering alumnus I thought you were.

Quick, on three: Everybody point at the enginerd! Ha-ha!