Basil Smotherman departs Purdue's basketball team

Junior forward Basil Smotherman - Purdue's longest-tenured scholarship in the program and the last of its 2013 signing class - is gone from the team, Purdue announced Sunday morning prior to its game at Nebraska.

“There are standards and expectations that our student-athletes must follow and Basil has not met these guidelines. We have mutually agreed the best route for him is to no longer be a member of our squad,” Coach Matt Painter said in a released statement.

The 6-foot-7 forward from Indianapolis was averaging 3.9 points and 1.7 rebounds, and had largely fallen out of Purdue's playing rotation lately behind standout forwards Caleb Swanigan and Vincent Edwards.

Smotherman redshirted last season because of the presence of those players and what they meant for his prospects for playing time.

From a basketball perspective this leaves Purdue even more vulnerable up front, because with sophomore big man Jacquil Taylor sidelined by injury, the Boilermakers were already in a situation where its best players up front were pretty much their only players up front. Now they are down their primary reserve option among true forwards.

It's a hit, too, for next season, when Swanigan is likely to be gone. But Smotherman - who could have conceivably departed as a grad transfer anyway should he so chosen - would have encountered incoming newcomers Eden Ewing and Aaron Wheeler up front for playing too, while Edwards is expected back.

Smotherman's departure comes a little more than a year after classmate Kendall Stephens took a leave from Purdue and ultimately transferred after the season. Months earler, their classmate, Bryson Scott, transferred too. The entire 2013 signing class is now gone.

Smotherman is expected to finish out his degree at Purdue on scholarship, after which he'll be free to play a year elsewhere as a graduate transfer.

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