More: Taylor sidelined at least a month | Thoughts on Purdue practice ($)

For so long now, Matt Haarms has had to wait.

He couldn't play out his senior season at prep school, redshirted at Purdue after arriving last January, then could only sit and watch while the Boilermakers played in the World University Games.

The 7-plus-footer, though, didn't have to wait long for his first big opportunity at Purdue.

It didn't come the way he probably would have preferred, but Jacquil Taylor's idled status through the remainder of October opens the door for Haarms to serve as Purdue's clear No. 2 center for the bulk of preseason practice.