Breakdown ($): 2020 recruiting for Purdue | Five Questions | GoldandBlack.com event coverage hub
Purdue's got a bunch of established targets in the 2021 class for only a few scholarships, but South Bend's JR Konieczny might be the sort of prospect that compels it to expand its pool even further.
The 6-foot-7 wing averaged about 24 points per game as a sophomore at Saint Joseph and has done enough this spring and summer thus far to see the interest in him move to a high-major level.
Butler, Creighton and Iowa are among those who've already offered, with Purdue, Indiana, Ohio State and others interested as well.
"It's kind of picked up the last couple weeks, and it's been a lot of fun," Konieczny said at Purdue's team camp in June. "The hard work is starting to pay off."
Purdue has long been involved with Konieczny, as former assistant coach Greg Gary watched him during the high school season — assistant Steve Lutz has since maintained contact — and had him on campus for at least one game during the season, Purdue's win over Indiana in Mackey Arena.
"Obviously that would be amazing," Konieczny said generally of potential Purdue interest. "It's an in-state school and both of my parents went to Purdue, so it kind of runs in the family. It would be incredible.
"The atmosphere at Purdue is amazing. Indiana basketball is just different, like a religion down here. It was a packed arena, fans never stopped cheering. It was pretty great."
Konieczny is known largely for his shooting of all kinds, from three-point range to mid-range, but also handles the ball like a guard and plays more physically than his narrow body type might suggest.
"I used to be a point guard growing up, so I've always been able to handle the ball and shoot the ball like that," Konieczny said. "Then around the beginning of my freshman year, I kind of had a growth spurt. I've grown a lot, but stayed on my fundamentals. It stuck with me and it's starting to pay off."
Here's some brief video from back in the spring.
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