Purdue freshman Terone Johnson is use to success. He starred at North Central High School in Indianapolis for four years and led the Panthers to the 2010 IHSAA State Championship title.
At 6-2, 212 pounds, Johnson is built to handle the very physical and competitive Big Ten play. He improved tremendously throughout his four years at North Central and was the leader of the team for his final two.
Johnson averaged 21.5 points last season and finished second in Mr. Basketball voting behind Ohio State’s Deshaun Thomas. He is a dynamic player that posses an up-tempo game and the ability to create his own shot off the dribble.
This season, Johnson will wear 0. He previously had worn 32 in high school and AAU but that number is taken but sophomore guard John Hart. Instead of fighting for it, Johnson embraced a new image, sporting 0 much like NBA star Gilbert Arenas.
Head Coach Matt Painter enters his sixth season as the leader of the black and gold. Painter knew he landed something special with Johnson who will make an immediate impact.
Terone Johnson gives us a guy with a big strong body that can make plays, break people down, can score the ball, and can defend. And I think he’s got a chance to be very successful at Purdue.
Terone has already impressed in the exhibition games. He shot 6 of 7 from the field and scored 17 to lead the Boilers past Midwestern State Tuesday 78-58. He was happy with his performance but understands its still early.
The offense that we play, there’s a lot of opportunities for drives and kicks and stuff like that, so I guess if you’re making it, you can shoot it.
Purdue will feature a very talented roster. Despite Robbie Hummel’s season-ending injury on the first day of practice and Chris Kramer graduating, the Boilermakers have a chance to do something special…something they’re not use to.
JaJuan Johnson returns along with E’Twaun Moore who were on the fence, debating whether to dart for the NBA draft. With Johnson, Johnson and Moore along with Kelsey Barlow, D.J. Byrd, Lewis Jackson, and Ryne Smith, Purdue is poised for another postseason run.
The Big Ten is by far the most competitive conference this season. There are roughly seven teams that could all contend for the title. Purdue along with Michigan State, Ohio State and Illinois certainly are the deepest and have the best shot.
Even Indiana head coach Tom Crean understands that there will be no easy wins in the Big Ten.
When you look at the quality of the teams, when you look at the quality of the coaching, and it’s obvious with some of the programs right now when you look at where Michigan State’s at, when you look at Ohio State, when you look at Purdue, even without Robbie (Hummel), I think that’s an incredible team, because, number one, the guy running the program knows everything that it takes to win, and they’ve got a lot of quality players inside of it.
Purdue opens the season today at home against Howard at 5 pm on the Big Ten Network. This will be the first real test for Johnson and the 14th ranked Boilermakers.
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