For Purdue, Grady Eifert has stood out by not standing out

LOUISVILLE — Long before the final score read that Purdue had unseated defending champion Villanova in a landslide, long before Carsen Edwards' point total on a historic night would creep north of 40, Grady Eifert made the Boilermakers' intentions known, in no uncertain terms, without speaking a word.

Literally the moment the ball was tipped, the Boilermakers' senior forward was laying Purdue's claim to the win that would send it to its third Sweet 16 in as many years.

Matt Haarms had won the tip, but not quite ensured possession, directing the jump ball toward the sideline, initiating a race between Eifert and Villanova guard Collin Gillespie.

It wasn't much of a competition.

Eifert barreled through Gillespie, then shed him as he tried to hold the Boilermaker forward by the arm and shoulder. As Eifert closed on the ball, he knocked Gillespie off his hip and to the floor, just before securing the ball, standing over the Wildcat sophomore.

All that transpired thereafter was equally as thorough a win for Purdue, perhaps a tone having been set right from the jump.

Literally.

“Coaches tell us to step to the guy as soon as the ball is tipped,” Eifert said, reciting jump-ball protocol. “But also, you kind of want to set the tone that we’re not here to mess around. You might think it’s a little thing, but that can go a long way, to go and get that ball and try to make a hustle play right from the start and get us going right away.”

Little things going a long way, that's sort of the story of Eifert's season, and Purdue's really, not that the two's success are mutually exclusive from one another.

All season long, or at least since Purdue righted itself midseason on its way to a Big Ten title and ultimately, at least the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament, people have looked at the Boilermakers as something of a curiosity, their success belying their perceived talent level. It's prompted Matt Painter to often pontificate on the importance of role-playing and selflessness and such, and people seem to consume his message like these are revolutionary concepts.

They're not.

They're common sense, in a lot of ways, but that's not to say they're prevalent.

And so by not standing out, Eifert stands out.

By making no mainstream-highlight sorts of plays, or so much as even pretending like he either wants to or can, Eifert's become both the basis of those questions about Purdue's perceived talent shortcomings, and the answer, sort of the face of the Boilermakers' success in certain contexts.

He's limited — small for the position he plays and while not necessarily unathletic, not particularly athletic, either — but benefits from knowing it, keeping himself exclusively within the narrowly defined parameters of his role.

“College basketball players should model him," Matt Painter says, "because they all want to do everything and he only does the things that he can do.”

Largely due to his raw effort, he's been credited as the impetus behind Purdue's excellent offensive rebounding this season — a crucial element to its success — and his effort, experience and studious nature have made him a critically valuable defender in a help-driven scheme that has gone a long way in nullifying whatever athleticism deficits may exist.

One of the strengths of Eifert's game, one of his defining skills, has been his shooting — new this season — and he's amplified it by taking only wide-open, prudent shots. His commitment to complementing backcourt scorers Carsen Edwards and Ryan Cline has been demonstrable, like when he turned the ball over at Minnesota off an offensive rebound urgently trying to get the ball back into Edwards' hands.

Those who know Eifert suggest there is no self, no personal agenda, and Painter suggested as much when he said this week that Eifert has "no crap," no ego, the sort of thing that can be stoked by being recruited. Eifert has never really been recruited.

He's focused solely on "working hard," as he puts it, and winning, and those focuses have seemed unwavering. There's not a more stoic player in Purdue's locker room, Eifert and classmate Ryan Cline playing an immense role this season in establishing the sort of steadiness that's served the Boilermakers well.

“It’s the mental part of it, too," Eifert said of his success. "Not letting things get to you, not letting outside distractions bother you. That can really take away from the game. If you can just stay locked into, ‘I’m going to go hard today,’ and ‘I’m going to beat that person in front of me,’ that’s key, and then having the same effort every single day.”

Eifert's never really even been the star of a team, he said, at least in a traditional sense, and he's neither Purdue's star nor its best player now.

You could make a compelling case, though, that because of all he represents in addition to all he's tangibly contributed, that he's been Purdue's most important player. He'd never agree.

“I really just want to win honestly," Eifert said. "Whatever it takes to win. I knew coming into this point that I was never going to be our leading scorer and probably wouldn’t be the star. Why wouldn’t you just try to do everything you possibly can to help the team win? That’s what I’ve been trying to do since I got here.”

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