Purdue-Wisconsin: Senior Day Video Interviews & Profiles

As we head into senior day Purdue has little to play for except for pride on Sunday against Wisconsin. Of course, that will not stop a six-man senior class from trying to finish undefeated on Keady Court this season. This group of seniors is 55-4 at Mackey Arena in the last four seasons, and one of the four teams to beat them was Wisconsin in 2022.

Here is what Matt Painter had to say about Senior Day after practice on Friday.

While Ethan Morton and Mason Gillis have the opportunity to return for 2024-25 due to their remaining COVID year, they have not formally announced they will exercise it. Zach Edey has announced he will not return, which is not a surprise.

Here are the six seniors that will be honored on Sunday afternoon.

Martin is a legacy walk-on that has worked in the shadows behind the scenes the last four seasons. While he had offers to play more minutes elsewhere, he chose to follow in his dad's footsteps. Yes, like many walk-ons of late, Martin is a Purdue legacy. His dad, Cuonzo Martin, still ranks among the program's greats.

Over the last four seasons Chase has played in 23 games, scoring a total of six points in mop-up minutes of blowouts. He scored two against Texas Southern earlier this season, two against Florida A&M last year, and two against Omaha has a sophomore.

Chase will graduate with a degree in mechanical engineering and on the Dean's list.

What would Purdue basketball be without a townie walk-on? That has been Barrett. His father Dave played at Purdue in the late 80s/early 90s, and later became head coach at nearby Lafayette Central Catholic.

Barrett has played in 24 games in his career, and he has scored 14 points. He did hit a three-pointer earlier this season against Michigan. He will graduate with a degree in organizational leadership.

Has any one year player had as much of an impact on Purdue as Lance Jones? He walked in to West Lafayette after foru excellent years at Southern Illinois and immediately took a spot in the starting lineup. He was known as a scorer during his time with the Salukis, but he has become a more efficient player in West Lafayette.

He also has meshed seamlessly with Purdue. It is hard to believe that, with such a veteran squad, he has only played 30 games with this group. It feels more like 100. He has becomes the teams No. 3 scorer at 12.4 ppg, a more efficient player than his earlier numbers suggest, and a calm presence.

He was the perfect fit for this team. Now he will get to play in the NCAA tournament for the first time in his career. If Purdue has a deep run Jones will be a very large reason why.

What Ethan Morton does rarely shows up in the box score. He has played in 124 career games but has only 258 points. More than half of that came in last season when he scored 132 points. This season he has played in 29 games and scored just 22 points. Just 12 of those have come in Big Ten play. By comparison, Zach Edey has had 21 games this season of 22 or more points.

Instead, he is the consummate glue guy. He defends, rebounds, and takes care of the basketball. He is playing just half the number of minutes he did last season, but has 39 assists to just nine turnovers. Any scoring you get from him is found money at this point, but he is a player that knows his role for 12 minutes a night and does what he needs to do. Every team needs that.

Mason Gillis had to wait a long time to see the court. For that, we are thankful. He missed his senior season at New Castle with a knee injury and he redshirted his first year at Purdue. Now he is my pick to be the best sixth man in the Big Ten. If anything, he is a closer instead of a starter. Trey Kaufman-Renn gets the start, but it is often Gillis, with his grit and shooting prowess, that finishes games.

Gillis has personified Purdue basketball. He is the throwback burly forward that flings himself around the court for loose balls, shoots open threes, and gets the tough rebounds that need getting. He is so gritty that, if he were sandpaper, he would just be chunks of broken glass on duct tape.

Mason is shooting nearly 50% from three and 85% from the line this season. That's what you want in a closer. He played a huge role in these two Big Ten titles, right down to the big second half threes he hit on Tuesday at Illinois.

What can you say about Edey that has not been said at this point? It is entirely possible, if not likely, he would have redshirted in 2020-21 had Matt Haarms chosen to return for his final season.

Edey was a nobody. He was nowhere near the top 100 recruits in the country. Absolutely nothing was expected of him. Then, in an empty gym in east Florida due to COVID restrictions he checked in against Liberty and started dunking everything in sight, going 9 of 10 for 19 points in his debut.

He hasn't stopped since.

By this time next week Edey will be a two-time Big Ten Player of the Year. In a few weeks he is going to be the first two-time National Player of the Year in four decades. He will likely finish with more points than any Purdue player ever, and he already has more rebounds and double-doubles than any Big Ten player. Forget being an all-time Purdue great. Edey has become one of the greatest and most dominant college basketball players ever.

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