SPORTS

Purdue's Smotherman sees redshirt opportunity

Nathan Baird
Journal & Courier

Purdue junior Basil Smotherman said he hadn't dunked all offseason. Not in an open gym, and not in practice.

Basil Smotherman with a layup during men's basketball practice Monday, October 5, 2015, at Cardinal Court on the campus of Purdue University.

Considering the Indianapolis native is most known for his unique name and airborne attacks on rims, it's surprising he would abstain from the practice. But Smotherman prioritized other, more consistently useful parts of his game, including improving his shot.

Smotherman did throw down a couple of dunks in Saturday's open practice in front of season ticket holders. The 6-foot-6, 230-pound forward also drained a go-ahead 3-pointer late in his Gold squad's 24-22 victory over Black in the third scrimmage session.

If Smotherman slams during next week's Fan Day scrimmage, it may be his last one in competition for a while. Seeing the logjam for minutes that exists at power forward, Smotherman recently approached coach Matt Painter about redshirting.

"After talking to my family, I felt like that was one of the things I wanted to do," said Smotherman, who would retain two years of eligibility if he sat out the coming season. "Me and Painter sat down and talked and, long story short, I think it’s just best for me and the team if that happened.

"I can work on my game through the whole season. If I sat out this year, I would help them win and get ready for next year to help them win again. We both see eye-to-eye. It's not set in stone yet."

Smotherman started half of Purdue's games as a freshman, but only four last season, dropping from 19 minutes per game to 13. He made some big contributions in Big Ten Conference play, notably posting 21 points and 10 rebounds in 44 minutes in consecutive victories over Iowa and Indiana.

Yet from the moment Caleb "Biggie" Swanigan announced his intention to play at Purdue, it appeared Smotherman might be the odd man out for minutes.

Swanigan projects as Purdue's starting 4, bumping Vince Edwards to the 3. But Edwards still fits as a backup option at the 4 when Swanigan encounters foul trouble or needs a breather. Senior Rapheal Davis also has experience at the 4. Jacquil Taylor isn't necessarily ahead of Smotherman for playing time, but after taking a medical hardship waiver, his eligibility is not as pliable.

It's one of the downsides, for lack of a better term, of Purdue using all 13 of its scholarships for recruited players. Painter said just because it's a decision that makes sense on paper doesn't make it an easy one. Such a move must first be right for the program, then for the individual.

"You don’t want to say, 'Hey we’re going to need you,' and you play 5 or 10 minutes and you’re like, 'Did you really affect the game where you got us a win somewhere, where someone else couldn’t just grab those minutes,' " Painter said.

Smotherman said he reached out to his former Lawrence North teammate Eron Harris, who sat out last season after transferring from West Virginia to Michigan State. He said he also leaned on his closest friends on the team, P.J. Thompson and Kendall Stephens.

"He'll have to stay focused and work really hard if does get the redshirt," Thompson said. "But I really don’t worry about that. He'll come to practice every day and play hard. He might be down to his competition, but they’re really good players and we’re all about making each other better and working hard because it will pay off in the long run."

Smotherman said he wants to play. While his biggest contributions this season may come in practice, he says he'll attack them as if he could be in the lineup the next day.

"(Painter) said if we get this thing going, we’re going to have a plan with it," Smotherman said. "We’re not going to just sit around and not do anything. We talked about it and he said taking off a year would be good for you. But you have to approach every day like you're ready to play, because you never know if there’s going to be an injury or something."