WEST LAFAYETTE — Coming off its first NCAA title game appearance since 1969 and first Final Four since 1980, Purdue basketball is again loading up on talent and competition.
Zach Edey is a projected first-round pick in June’s NBA draft. Lance Jones is gone. Ethan Morton transferred to Colorado State and Mason Gillis to Duke. Carson Barrett is now a graduate assistant coach after playing four years for the Boilermakers. Chase Martin graduated.
Those are the roster departures.
Additions come in the form of a top-10 recruiting class of six incoming freshmen.
More: Purdue basketball’s Zach Edey leaves college in rearview as he prepares to enter NBA
Among them, rising 7-foot-3 Daniel Jacobsen, who this week played himself onto Team USA’s 12-player U18 roster. Jacobsen, Kanon Catchings and Gicarri Harris headline a group that also includes CJ Cox, Raleigh Burgess and Jack Benter.
How they’ll help mold Purdue’s roster remains to be seen, but who they’ll play against is becoming more clear.
What to know about 2024-25 Purdue basketball schedule
Here’s what we know of Purdue’s 2024-25 opponents.
∎ Purdue has schedule a home-and-home series against Alabama, a Final Four team last season that the Boilermakers defeated in a neutral site game in Toronto. The first of those two meetings is at Mackey Arena on Nov. 15.
∎ Another home-and-home series is scheduled against Marquette, a team Purdue beat in the championship of last season’s Maui Invitational. The first of those two games is Nov. 19 at Marquette.
∎ It was announced on Thursday the participants at the Rady Children’s Invitational in San Diego on Nov. 28 and 29 have chanced. Purdue and BYU remain in the field. Mississippi and North Carolina State, which Purdue defeated in the Final Four, are replacing Arkansas and Notre Dame, which was originally slated for the tournament.
∎ Purdue will host Yale in non-conference play, reported by Jon Rothstein. It will be the fourth meeting all-time between the Boilers and Bulldogs, all Purdue victories, and first since the 2022 NCAA tournament first round. Purdue also played Yale in 1902 and 1962.
∎ Texas A&M will visit Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Dec. 14 for a neutral site game against Purdue. It will be the first meeting between the two since Purdue’s 63-61 win in the second round of the 2010 NCAA tournament.
∎ A previously scheduled neutral site game at Las Vegas against Arizona has been scrapped due to scheduling issues for Arizona.
∎ Purdue will play Indiana, Michigan and Rutgers twice each, once at home and once on the road, during Big Ten play. The Boilermakers have conference road games at Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan State, Oregon, Penn State and Washington. Purdue plays Big Ten foes Maryland, Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio State, UCLA, USC and Wisconsin at home.
The remainder of Purdue’s schedule will be released at a later date.
Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at sking@jconline.com and follow him on Twitter and Instagram @samueltking.