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Exhibition season will help tell tale of where newcomers fit in

Ryan Cline came into Purdue's exhibition games two seasons ago unsure of whether he'd be redshirting or not, "50/50," as he put it, but still wanting to make an impression as a freshman.

"I was nervous, trying to impress Coach, trying to impress my teammates," said Cline, now a junior. "Trying to show them what you can do, it's nerve-wracking."

Today, Purdue's five newcomers encounter that very situation.

Now, today's debuting Boilermakers are in a very different situation than Cline was a few falls ago.

Purdue's three true freshmen, one redshirt freshman and one junior college transfer have been with the team for months now, most of them having participated in the World University Games and the dozens of practices that preceded the event. It's been an unprecedented off-season in that sense.

But new is new, and the niche-carving process is on-going for the group.

It would appear that two of the five are written in for prominent roles currently.

Freshman Nojel Eastern is bound for the bulk of the backup point guard minutes to begin the season and redshirt freshman Matt Haarms figures to carry at least a share of the reserve minutes at center once Jacquil Taylor is active again.

But junior Eden Ewing and freshmen Aaron Wheeler and Sasha Stefanovic are guaranteed nothing at this point from a minutes perspective, for different reasons.

Stefanovic arguably looked like Purdue's most prepared freshman this summer in terms of his ability to play right away.

The problem — and it's a good problem for Purdue to have — is that senior Dakota Mathias, Cline and sophomore Carsen Edwards should combine to occupy 80-plus minutes per game at his position(s).

For that reason, the redshirt option has been on the table since the day Stefanovic committed and signed in the spring.

"It's definitely a conversation Coach Painter and I have had, about a redshirt," Stefanovic said, "and it's looking like a possibility. But anything can happen and he even said that, too. You have to go in every day and work hard and whatever happens, happens."

Painter has long cited former Boilermaker Ryne Smith as a regret that shapes his thinking on redshirts. Smith barely played as a freshman, then left Purdue three years later as a key piece to a winning team, a player it would have loved to have had an extra year.

The coach's message then to Stefanovic and those in similar positions would be to take the concept of redshirting more as a compliment.

"It definitely makes a difference," Stefanovic said of that message, "to know that I would play, but there's just so many terrific seniors and upperclassmen above me that there's just not enough minutes. I totally understand that. Whatever happens happens and I totally respect whatever decision he makes on it."

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Ewing came to Purdue as one of the more highly regarded junior college players in the country, not knowing what the Boilermaker frontcourt would look like this season, as three Boilermakers ultimately declared for the NBA draft.

Two came back, far from the mass exodus that might have greased Ewing's path to big minutes.

Compounding matters, his enrollment was pushed to July, a month after Purdue's other newcomers arrived. He joined the team in the midst of its pre-World University Games practices, preparing for games that actually mattered a month later.

Throw in the fact that Ewing played exclusively zone defense in junior college — man-to-man is an adjustment, he says — and a number of factors have combined to set him back.

"Right now I'm still the new guy and I still have a lot to prove," Ewing said. "I got here later than everybody else. I'm the guy who's in the back of the pack right now."

And, Ewing plays the same position as Vincent Edwards, who'll log 30-plus minutes, most likely, and Grady Eifert, who'll open the season entrenched in Purdue's early rotation, maybe not bound for big minutes, but certainly for early ones.

Ewing has made progress. He's been more productive in practice and added comfort has brought his athleticism and energy to the forefront more often. But he had a long way to go.

"I think I've made a good progression, but I still have a lot of work to do," Ewing said. "The guys who are here now, they've earned their minutes. I still have to earn mine."

Wheeler, too.

The promising freshman is an athlete and physical specimen unlike most anything Purdue's had in recent years, but he understands Edwards' leading role for the Boilermakers and has worked to learn from the veteran, from all the veterans, actually, he said.

"Vince is a great player and he's going to play 30-plus minutes. I'm not really worried about that," Wheeler said. "I'm just focusing on learning from this year, getting a little experience for next year and trying to get better at the things I need to get better at."

Like Ewing, Wheeler has progressed.

To the point he can find a spot in Purdue's rotation to open the season? That remains to be seen.

"I think I've come a long way so far," he said. "Obviously I still have room to improve, but things are coming easier and I'm not thinking as much as I was back in the summer. I'm starting to put things together and playing more freely, but I can definitely still improve."

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