What seems like a lifetime ago, Matt Painter's Purdue Boilermakers were trying to move on from another NCAA Tournament disappointment. This one hurt a little extra because of how much the path and bracket had broken in Purdue's favor.

There was also the matter of losing Jaden Ivey and Trevion Williams.

Painter would turn to a group of freshmen guards, unproven big men, and a locker room still carrying scars from Purdue team's past.

He would also lean on one guard with a lot of experience and a whole bunch of schools in his past. David Jenkins Jr. came to Purdue with a lot of personal accolades, a goal of 2,000 points in his career, but most importantly, to win a national championship.

Jenkins never got the storybook ending he deserved. He had flashes, moments, but ultimately his career and Purdue's season ended to a #16 seed in Columbus, Ohio.

But Jenkins story stretches just as far forward as it did backwards. He helped stabilize and guide a locker room and court ran by a bunch of freshmen. His impact helped lay the foundation that would have Purdue playing in the national title game just a year later.

Here's a story from the first time Jenkins played in Mackey Arena.

3,471

That's the amount of collegiate game time minutes for David Jenkins Jr. before he ever put a Purdue jersey on and walks into Mackey Arena for the first time. That spans four years and three schools. He's gone from South Dakota State to UNLV to Utah to now West Lafayette, Indiana and a Purdue Boilermaker team that can use all the experience it can get its hands on.

In Purdue's 102-57 exhibition victory over Truman St., coach Matt Painter started two true freshman in his backcourt. For those of you doing the math at home, that's a combined 0 minutes of collegiate experience from Purdue's starting guards.

Thankfully for Purdue, experience travels, and if the exhibition game was any indication, so does Jenkins Jr.'s jump shot.

Jenkins Jr. had 12 points on 3 of 4 shooting from three in his first action in front of a sold out Mackey Arena. For such a seasoned college guard, there's still new experiences for the Tacoma native.

"I’ve never been part of a game like that - especially just for an exhibition. I was telling - Caleb [Furst] asked me how it was at my previous school. Man we probably did that just at a rivalry game. I can only imagine how it is when we get in Big Ten play," Jenkins Jr. said shortly after the game.

Mackey Arena was a reported sell out, but there were more than a few empty seats in the rafters. Still, it will be hard to get much louder in Mackey than when Jenkins Jr. deflected a pass, dribbled behind his back to avoid a defender, and rifled an off-hand pass to Mason Gillis streaking in transition.

He might be new to Mackey Arena, but he's a college basketball old head in the locker room.

Coach Painter's Purdue program carried over a reputation from Gene Keady as a tough man to man defensive program, and while Coach Painter still believes in those principles, he's also something of an offensive liberal. When asked about Jenkins Jr.'s performance, Painter lit up as he explained what he wanted from his guards on offense.

"I love guys that can shoot. I do the same thing with Braden Smith. Those pull up threes they have. They can make them. A lot of people don’t like it because you just dribble up the court and just let it rip. They can make them. David’s made a lot of threes in his career. I like getting guys aggressive and feeling good about themselves the way they can shoot."

David Jenkins Jr. can and has shot a lot in his career. He's taken 782 threes and made 323. That's a 41% clip.

For a college player that's done this for so long, it's surprising to find that he still has new tricks in the bag.

When I asked Coach Painter about David Jenkins Jr.'s performance running the pick and roll in the game against Truman State, and if that's something he saw in the summer, Coach Painter's answer was a bit of a surprise.

“Not really. He’s really trying - he’s coming in playing more point than he has in the past - he’s really been a combo [guard]. I think he’s trying to do the right things all the time. To impress. To play the position more. But when I've got guys that can cork it like that - I want them to shoot."

Jenkins Jr.'s first three came on a high pick and roll, something Purdue didn't run before the senior came into the game instead relying on the more orchestrated motion sets heavy in Coach Painter's play books.

Caleb Furst moved to set the screen at the top of the key. Jenkins Jr. took one dribble left into it and rose up immediately. It splashed through the net.

Later, Jenkins Jr. used the fear of this exact scenario to catch his man with an in and out dribble to get into a wide open lane. Pulling an extra defender, his missed lay up was cleaned up by Trey Kaufman-Renn.

It's the calculated poise and skill set you can expect from a guard that's seen almost everything.

While Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer learn to play the position, Jenkins Jr. will be behind them providing a steady touch and a whole lot of experience. But this team still has things to offer Jenkins Jr. as new experiences, too.

"Honestly, I’m just happy to be here, man. This is a great group of guys. We’ve built such early chemistry already as a team and that’s so important moving forward in the post season."

When March comes along Purdue will hope to make an endearing home for one of college basketballs most travelled players.