Camden Heide takes off

"Each time you kind of - you know obviously playing these different styles of teams for the first time, it's my first time playing them, each time you're given a chance to play a different style of team you kind of get more used to playing college basketball and the different play styles each team has and you know of get to settle in more."

Those are the words of a redshirt freshman from Minnesota, but not from tonight, a night where Camden Heide announced himself to the world as a potential game changer off the bench for the #3 Purdue Boilermakers.

Those words are from November, 2023, on the heels of Purdue's successful trip to Hawaii where it swept the Maui Invitational and first started building the best resume in college basketball.

"We compete a lot in practice everyday, preseason. Any time you get the chance to play against the #1 team in practice, you kind of set yourself up to have a good chance against every team."

More words from November from Heide who just finished scoring 18 points in 19 minutes while going a perfect 7 of 7 from the floor and 4 of 4 from three on February 22nd, 2024. Purdue's a long way from Hawaii. Instead, it's moving towards a March that's been cold to it.

Heide didn't just flash against Rutgers, knocking down three threes in the first half, he took off and soared. When he hit the first three, Rutgers, one of the best defenses in the country, started to take notice of the redshirt freshman who had only scored double-digits once in his career, all the way back on November 6th. That was Heide's very first college game.

When Rutgers started to close out on Heide's shot in the left corner, he flashed the maturation and growth of his game. He pumped and then drove by his defender, launched into the air, hung, and then dropped in the lay up.

There's not many people in the country with the athletic ability of Heide. There was no one on last year's roster. He wasn't done.

Heide would then dazzle. With the shot clock running down, he would jab step and lose his man, and drive hard to the hoop where again he soared, hanging front left of the rim and showing ball before tucking it back under as he floated to the other side of the rim where he'd finish a reverse lay up.

Then he'd add a fourth three. Then a put back dunk before his night was over. He'd add a block and a steal for good measure. All in less than 20 minutes.

For a year last season, Heide tested himself against Purdue's starters, running scout teams next to walk ons, waiting for health and his time.

This year, he's grown harder, sharper, and he's waited for his moment, this moment, and Purdue's been waiting for this moment, too. For the team to not just survive February, but to gain traction, to leap up from it, and soar towards March.

Some metaphors write themselves.

What Camden Heide did on the court was impressive. Somehow the freshman that can fly was even more impressive after the game, showing just how grounded the dynamic wing is.

"When you have teammates around you that just give you confidence," Heide said after the game. "It's a lot easier to play."

Camden Heide who played a combined 10 minutes over the last two games, was now sitting between Purdue's Naismith finalists, Braden Smith and Zach Edey. who Heide described as the best point guard in college and the best player, respectively.

As much as this season is and has and will come down to Smith's play making and Edey's dominance, Heide and his bench mates is what was missing last March. When Purdue got on the highest stage, it didn't have anyone that could meet its best player.

This year, it's Zach Edey and Braden Smith, and depending on the night, Camden Heide. And Lance Jones. And Mason Gillis. And Fletcher Loyer. And Trey Kaufman-Renn. And Ethan Morton. And Caleb Furst. And Myles Colvin.

"We - none of us are surprised by it," Zach Edey said after the game about Heide's offensive explosion.

What's most impressive about Heide's outburst is that it's come from the fringe of Matt Painter's rotation. It's a place Painter didn't really think he'd ever have to worry about. He has a rotation of ten players, and guys that never see the floor that he believes are good enough to play in the Big Ten.

Heide has been the victim of the rotation as much as he's gotten a chance to take advantage of it. Tonight he took advantage of it as Purdue heads into its last four games of the regular season with a two and a half game lead in the Big Ten.

Heide's ability to pull off this kind of performance with his inconsistent minutes is a testament to his ability to stay grounded off the court.

"Coach Lusk tells me almost everyday, just keep plugging away. Keep going at it," Heide said after the game. "When I'm going up, watching films, whether it's me playing four minutes, ten minutes, what it is. You know, Bloom, Lusk, those guys just tell me stay patient, stay ready. Because I'm gonna have night like tonight when I play well."

Purdue's coaching staff has shown faith in Heide, but that doesn't necessarily mean play like this isn't a little shocking. Not because of the player, but the circumstance.

"It's borderline impossible to be frank," Painter said of what Heide has been able to do in the inconsistent role. "But he's been solid on both ends... but tonight he was able to show his skill, show his athleticism, and also he didn't do anything that he couldn't do. He stayed within himself... He's kept a great attitude. You see his upside there."

Just in time. As last year's February loomed and haunted narratives after the loss to Ohio State, Purdue's bench rose up against Rutgers, led by a redshirt freshman, and reminded the nation that this was a team of growth.

In a week, the calendar will turn to March. Purdue's real ghosts stand ahead of them. Heide's play is a reminder that this Purdue team looks capable of soaring over them.