After a two-game absence due to the concussion he sustained at Nebraska, Purdue big man Matt Haarms will play Saturday afternoon against Central Michigan.
"It took about a week-and-a-half," Haarms said Friday afternoon, a day after his second "contact practice" in as many days, "but I'm back to normal now. It doesn't hurt, no dizziness, symptom-free. It feels good."
Without Haarms, who sustained the concussion when he hit the floor hard with about six minutes left in the loss in Lincoln, Purdue won at Ohio in Athens, then lost to No. 17 Butler in Indianapolis.
For the Ohio game, Haarms presumably wouldn't have traveled had Purdue not had to go straight from Lincoln to Columbus on short turnaround. He watched the game from the coaches' locker room at the arena, "lights off, brightness on the TV down."
"I couldn't not watch it."
Last weekend, he returned to Purdue's bench, but used ear plugs to manage the noise.
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Now, he'll return to the floor, having recovered from his second concussion of the season. The first occurred on Day 1 of preseason practice.
"I'm just lucky," Haarms said. "It could have kept me out a lot longer. You hear horror stories about guys who are out three or four months or it even ends their careers. After a week-and-a-half, I'm back and feeling normal and I'm really grateful for that."
Haarms will play against Central Michigan. Whether he starts, that remains to be seen.
Prior to him being sidelined, Purdue was starting he and Trevion Williams together.
It won't on Saturday, Coach Matt Painter said.
"I think it's smart for us to kind of bring him along (slowly) in that first game and see how he is," Painter said. "Plus, (Central Michigan) is more athletic and they're smaller.
"I think when you play that way, you have to be smart about who you play it against and when you do it. Now that we're in an adjustment, I think it's smart to see how the game unfolds before you figure out how you're going to play."
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