The Purdue basketball team and head coach Matt Painter need someone else to control the paint at center, following Sunday's unfortunate injury news. Freshman center Daniel Jacobsen “will likely miss the remainder of the season” according to the school. Jacobsen suffered a fractured tibia.
He sustained the injury on Friday against Northern Kentucky. Painter at the time described it as a “lower leg injury” per Rivals' Boiler Upload reporter Dub Jellison. Jacobsen appeared to have hit his shin against an NKU defender after the first minute of play.
Jacobsen later got out of the locker room on crutches. He watched No. 14 Purdue roll to the 72-50 romp.
But now, the towering 7-foot-4 center from Chicago will settle for only two games in 2024-25. Jacobsen previously logged 25 minutes in the Nov. 4 season opener against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, which the Boilermakers won 90-73. He scored 13 points and swatted three blocks.
Jacobsen was a late recruiting addition for Painter and Purdue. Although he became a prized one as Jacobsen turned down Big Ten Conference rivals Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, plus Big East programs Creighton and Xavier for Purdue. The star from Brewster Academy in New Hampshire ranked as the No. 53 overall prospect by 247Sports. He also rose to No. 1 among New Hampshire prospects for the 2024 class.
Who can Purdue basketball turn to post Daniel Jacobsen injury?
Jacobsen arrived to West Lafayette, Indiana, as a potential successor to Zach Edey — one of the more decorated Boilermaker players ever. Edey spearheaded a run to the Final Four before the Memphis Grizzlies took him ninth overall in the '24 draft.
Jacobsen's absence, though, already leaves a significant hole inside for Purdue. So for Painter and his coaching staff, who can they turn to post Jacobsen?
The lone remaining center option left is Will Berg. The sophomore from Stockholm, Sweden is anticipated to earn more minutes compared to the combined 25 he was given in the first two games. Berg is shorter than Jacobsen, but only by two inches. The 7-foot-2, 260-pounder saw an uptick in his playing time after the Jacobsen injury; logging 17 minutes and scoring seven points against Northern Kentucky.
Perhaps Painter can become convinced to slide one of his forwards over to center for depth reasons. Senior Caleb Furst appears to look like the best option there. Furst originally committed to Purdue as a center from the 2021 class. The 6-foot-10, 253-pound Furst since moved over to power forward.
Purdue's first without the prized four-star signing Jacobsen, will be on Monday against Yale at Mackey Arena.
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