Spiece Wrap-Up: Five takeaways on Purdue prospects
Spiece coverage ($): Friday night | Saturday afternoon | Saturday night
FORT WAYNE — One of the highlight-type events of the grassroots season came and went this weekend, as the annual Hensley Memorial Run 'N Slam was played at Spiece Fieldhouse, with countless Purdue prospects and targets part of the field.
GoldandBlack.com will have updates and videos throughout the week, but here are five big-picture takeaways from the weekend.
Trevion Williams is a real possibility for Purdue
Whatever bump Purdue may have figured to get from Caleb Swanigan's success and story might be materializing in the form of Detroit big man Trevion Williams.
Williams has mentioned Swanigan prominently at every turn in recent weeks when talking about Purdue, framing him as an idol of sorts he'd like to emulate, and the Boilermaker coaching staff will be happy to set that narrative in his recruitment, now that it's officially a contender for him after offering a scholarship early last week.
Like Swanigan did, Williams will have to change his body considerably. A major ankle injury late in his high school season has severely affected his weight and conditioning.
But like Swanigan, Williams is a force around the basket, with an understanding of how to use his girth to his advantage. He's also an atypically good passer who can dribble a little too.
All that being said, Swanigan is a special player and shouldn't just be thrown around as a comparison point for every big man of a certain body type. But Williams sees in Purdue an opportunity to maybe follow in his footsteps in more ways than one.
Purdue's in a great early position with 2019 post target, but it surely won't run unopposed.
Trayce Jackson-Davis, the 6-foot-9 junior-to-be from Center Grove who came out and said this weekend that the Boilermakers are "probably No. 1 on my list right now," due to Purdue's early move on him, was outstanding at Spiece.
Playing up a year against 2018 teams, Jackson-Davis was consistently productive against older kids and led his team to the cusp of Sunday's championship stretch run.
Jackson-Davis already has a knack for rebounding and is savvy and effective around the basket offensively. He even made some jumpers this weekend.
In a lot of ways, he looks like he's scratching the surface.
As he progresses, more interest will come.
Iowa just offered, and you can bet the Butlers, Xaviers and usual suspects from the Big Ten will be involved long-term for the NBA legacy - his father is former Pacer Dale Davis - so though Purdue has put itself in a great early position, it's not going to be easy. It rarely is when you recruit good players.
Forwards Jerome Hunter and Darius Bazley are big-time
Once Darius Bazley showed up for the event to play with Ohio-Nova, it wasn't fair. Nova had two really unique forwards to put next to one another in Jerome Hunter and Bazley, both of them being in the 6-8, 6-9 ballpark, with endless length and uncommon versatility. Both of them spent the weekend stroking threes like it was nothing and doing most everything else.
Purdue's in on both. It's unclear whether the Boilermakers are even on Hunter's radar, but Bazley offered some meaningful thoughts on Purdue, which was quick to re-offer him following his decommitment from Ohio State.
Both players will be difficult gets, but both are very much worth the effort, each of them looking the part of top-50 types of talents who'd fit well into the versatility Purdue's coveted at its 4 position over the years.
Marcus Bingham is on fire
Purdue was the first high-major school to really recruit Marcus Bingham, bringing him to Mackey Arena for a visit this season, then traveling to Grand Rapids to scout him.
Now, it's like one of a million for the red-hot forward for Indy Heat.
Bingham possesses height and length in spades, with big-time athleticism to boot. But it's his ability to handle the ball and shoot threes and grab physical rebounds despite a work-in-progress body that has made him one of the spring's biggest stars nationally.
He's ranked near the top 100 by Rivals.com right now. He might be in the process of cutting his ranking in half, and that might be conservative.
Isaiah Thompson can really, really, really score
Class of 2019 guard Isaiah Thompson has been shooting the ball at a really high level this spring, but at Spiece this weekend, opponents couldn't seem to keep P.J. Thompson's younger brother out of the lane and away from the rim. Once there, he rained runners and finished at the basket more efficiently than he has in the past, showing the benefits of some added strength and seasoning.
And he made big shots in big moments and when his team needed a big half in one of its wins Saturday, he scored 21 of his 24 for the game after halftime.
Thompson will be an interesting study in terms of what's a "high-major" prospect and what's not, in coaches' eyes at least.
He's not the biggest, strongest, most explosive player and likely will never be defined by those things. And his positional outlook for the next level can be debated.
But he scores - and scores a lot - against everybody he faces and productivity matters, obviously.
Why mid-majors haven't at least started offering him is a mystery. It'll come soon.
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