With Purdue's season done, 'special' senior class finding it hard to let go
More NCAA coverage: End of line in Boston
BOSTON — P.J. Thompson was biting his lip, scrunching his face.
As the final seconds ticked off his Purdue career, standing on the same court with senior classmates Vincent Edwards and Dakota Mathias and seeing Isaac Haas sitting on the bench, Thompson was fighting to control his emotions.
Because he knew he wouldn’t play with any of those guys, his buddies, again.
The second-seeded Boilermakers were being ousted from the NCAA Tournament in the Sweet 16, losing to No. 3 seed Texas Tech, 78-65.
So Thompson’s mind — and the rest of his senior teammates, especially — naturally drifted to the finality of it all.
There’d been so many triumphs with this group.
Victories and championships, yes — the Boilermakers’ 30 victories this season was a school victory and the class was one of the winningest in program history — but more than that.
There’d been so many memories.
The behind-the-scenes moments only they were part of, the inside jokes, the heartfelt times of encouragement, the literally shoulders to lean on when they felt broken, the good-naturedly ribbing and, even, the spats.
Once the buzzer officially ended it all, Thompson slowly walked toward Purdue’s bench, reached under a seat and grabbed one of those big, flashy NCAA towels. He draped it over his head. He was trying to hide the emotions that, finally, spilled over.
“These are my guys,” Thompson said later in the locker room. “When you go through so much with somebody, no matter if you talk every day, hang out every day, they’ve got a part of your life. It’s like that with everybody in this room. I feel like they know any time they need somebody, I’m there.
“All these guys are going to be my brothers for the rest of my life.”
Mathias was the first one in the handshake line afterward, hoping to hold it together until there was some kind of privacy.
Not that any such thing lasted long.
After only a 15-minute cooling off period, reporters flooded Purdue’s locker room. But they had to wait to get to Mathias: He’d found a towel of his own in the inner sanctum, and it, too, was covering his head.
He was slumped over on a chair in front of his locker, arms on his knees, head buried.
A couple locker stalls away, Haas was squeezed deep into his wooden locker, trying to put into words what all of this meant, the legacy, the friendships, the victories, the end.
He was able to smile.
But even that couldn’t have been easy.
Haas spent his final two games on the bench with a fractured elbow. If the brace he wore Friday was approved, he technically could have gotten subbed into the game for at least a couple seconds, to finish his career on the court. But Haas said afterward he never discussed that curtain-call-type possibility with Coach Matt Painter. And it was fine.
It was over nonetheless.
“Special,” Haas said to describe the season. “These guys, they came in, they worked. Seniors, especially. You’ve been here for four years, you pour your heart and soul into it. We’ve left a legacy here. I believe in these guys next year.
“I’m proud of every guy in this room.”
That sentiment would have been echoed to a man, if each allowed himself to speak afterward. Most of them didn’t, though.
The locker room was practically silent, players and coaches either blankly staring into space, thoughts likely trying to process what had just happened, especially with those uncharacteristic 17 turnovers, more than they’d had in a game since December. Or they were buried in towels or buried in their cell phones, likely trying to find some kind of distraction to delay the grieving-type process each season’s end brings.
But, as has been the case throughout their careers, when they were asked to offer perspective, each did his best.
Even when they knew what it meant.
“We did all we could for Purdue,” said Thompson, voice cracking. “We didn’t go out the way we wanted to. We wanted to get to a Final Four. We thought that was a realistic goal for us this year. We just didn’t get it done.”
Edwards tried to balance the immediate disappointment — also referencing falling short of that Final Four goal — by taking solace in the impact the seniors made on the program. They know it was significant, even though it may have been hard to admit so fresh off a season-ending loss.
“I think we left our mark,” Edwards said. “It sucks you try to say anything else at this point, but I’m really proud of these guys. We did what we can do here.
“I think we did a good job of setting a foundation of winning, establishing a winning culture, a respectful culture. We did it the right way. That’s all we can ask for. We did it the right way. We won with class, and we always tried to put our best foot forward. We never did it any other way. That’s always been the Purdue way.”
Mathias wasn’t quite ready to reflect just yet on those lifelong relationships changing, saying he’d need time, before adding quickly — before perhaps another surge of emotion seized him — “It’s been a great ride.”
Then he went quiet.
And reporters walked away.
And he put the towel back in place, holding his head.
Nearby freshman Nojel Eastern seemed more in the did-this-just-happen disbelief stage, but he perked up and spoke up when given a chance to talk about the senior class and how they changed not just the program but him.
“Throughout the whole season, they taught me a lot, just becoming a better basketball player. Taught me to be a better person,” he said. “I’m an only child. I’ve never had a brother. They were like brothers to me. That’s the main thing I took out of this season.
“Of course, it sucks (to lose). But we tried to fight. We tried to give it our all. We just came up short. But they taught me a lot for the next year. Even though it sucks to think about the next year this early, they taught me so much that I can carry over for next year’s season.”
For the seniors, there is no thinking about next season.
And that was a wicked place to let their minds go.
Edwards talked about what he learned and appreciated about each of his classmates: How Thompson always had a smile and saw the bright side of things, how Haas stayed positive and “was always there,” how Mathias’ competitiveness and attention to detail pushed every single player to a higher standard.
“It just sucks I won’t be playing with these guys anymore,” Edwards said. “It will never be how it is right now just because we’re going to have our own lives. Dakota is going to be married here soon. P.J. is going to be a bachelor, we already know. I guarantee Isaac is next (to be married) — he has a girlfriend he’s been with for a really long time.
“We’re all just going to have our own careers, professionals. I hope all these guys go on and play long professional careers, and I hope they’re successful in life.”
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