2/3/2017 basketball Edit

New Purdue commitment bet on himself, and won

Brian Neubert • BoilerUpload

GoldandBlack.com staff

Video: Sasha Stefanovic with Indiana junior all-stars in June

Analysis ($): What It Means | Podcast

Purdue decided a while back that it wanted Crown Point shooting guard Sasha Stefanovic for its 2017 signing class, and Stefanovic himself has long wanted to play for Purdue.

It was just a matter of Matt Painter and his staff finding room.

They have.

Stefanovic committed to the Boilermakers Friday, accepting a scholarship for next season, space created, in effect, by last weekend's news of junior Basil Smotherman's depature from the program.

The 6-foot-4 senior from Northwest Indiana believed all along that Purdue wanted him, but just had to make the numbers work. He suspected something might be in the works after last weekend's roster news broke, then he heard Painter planned to come to his game against Portage Thursday night. After Stefanovic scored 14 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in his team's win, Painter called him to formally offer a scholarship.

It was quickly accepted, probably about 12 hours later.

"I'm just grateful for the opportunity," Stefanovic said.

This was the end game Stefanovic hoped for all along.

He could have signed in the fall. Before Purdue really got heavily involved, he'd zeroed in on Loyola, Northern Iowa, Valparaiso and Evansville from a list of 20-some offers that also included DePaul and, earlier in the process, Xavier, among others.

But he held of, opting to wait until spring to see what transpired, specifically with Purdue.

"I had so many offers from so many great schools," Stefanovic said, "but Purdue was the one I was kind of waiting for. I kind of bet on myself and waited until the spring. This was the one I was waiting for.

"I just wanted to show Coach Painter (this season) what I couldn't this summer because of (an ankle) injury, that I could play with the best kids in the state and the country and hold my own and do what I can do."

One of the best shooters in the state from a high school known for turning out such players - Purdue's Spike Albrecht and Indiana's Grant Gelon were both sharpshooters who preceded Stefanovic in Clint Swan's program - Stefanovic made sense for Purdue, as he's cut from a similar cloth from current Boilermakers Dakota Mathias and Ryan Cline, two key components to one of the top three-point shooting teams in the country this season. Mathias will be a senior next season and Cline a junior.

Like Mathias and Cline before him, Stefanovic is inevitably defined as a "shooter," but aims to shed that label and be known as not just a shooter.

"I think my basketball IQ helps me a lot," he said. "On the defensive end, I'm willing to learn. I do pride myself on not just being known as a shooter and being able to make plays for others. We're going to have a lot of talent on that team and it's going to be easy to make plays for others. With the athletic slashers we're going to have, it's going to open things up for them as well.

"I think I'm a great fit (at Purdue)."

Painter has attended at least two of Stefanovic's games this season, including Thursday night's 14-point, 14-rebound showing in a win over Portage. Stefanovic is averaging just under 20 points per game for the Bulldogs.

Stefanovic will join fall signees Nojel Eastern, Aaron Wheeler, Eden Ewing and the already-enrolled Matt Haarms in Purdue's crop of 2017 signees.

It will continue to recruit big men for next season, with the expectation being that All-America candidate Caleb Swanigan will turn pro after this season.

Purdue had discussed with Stefanovic the possibility of attending prep school, then being part of its 2018 class, a hypothetical that came off the table once a scholarship opened.

"It was definitely a possibility (I'd have done that)," Stefanovic said. "... It wasn't my ideal situation, but it was definitely considering."

Doesn't matter anymore.

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