Passing on Redshirt, How Raleigh Burgess Can Help Purdue Now
Sunday afternoon, Purdue coach Matt Painter still wasn't sure what the decision would be regarding 6-foot-11 freshman Raleigh Burgess. Would the big man redshirt, retaining all four years of eligibility? Or would he play this season, providing the Boilermakers with more depth in the frontcourt?
Hours before tipoff against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the season opener on Monday, the program announced that Burgess would play this season and would not utilize a redshirt year. He made his debut later that night, playing five minutes and grabbing a rebound in a 90-73 victory.
Because the NCAA doesn't permit college basketball players to participate in any competition while retaining their redshirt status, Purdue had to make a pretty quick decision without much in-game evidence. The freshman played in both exhibition games, but it was a small sample size.
So, what ultimately led to the decision to play for the Boilermakers during the 2024-25 season?
"Paint and I definitely weighed both sides and he laid it out for me to start and said it's normally a little more clear-cut than what he was thinking about with me," Burgess said. "It kind of came down to, he's able to use me, but he doesn't know if he wants to do it this year. He gave me, not necessarily a decision, but an opportunity to speak my own mind and we had an ongoing conversation through a couple of days and finally decided playing was probably best."
Purdue has a lot of uncertainty at the power forward and center positions this season. Burgess is competing with senior Caleb Furst, redshirt sophomore Will Berg and fellow freshman Daniel Jacobsen for minutes on the court. Trey Kaufman-Renn is the only post player who has separated himself from the pack.
"We need some guys to separate themselves to help their cause," Painter said. "But if they don't, and this continues, there's going to be times we need him and there's going to be times when we don't. And that's just that. There could be games where he might not get in, there could be games he played five-to-10 (minutes), games he plays 10-to-15. With that being said, you've just got to stay ready."
While the idea of playing immediately might sound better than sitting on the sidelines for a season, it wasn't an easy decision for Burgess. He understood the benefits of possibly redshirting.
"It was tough. Obviously, that extra year can be really beneficial for some people," Burgess said. "A lot of people on our team have done it. Trey is really good, he did it. I think the opportunity to play this year was just something that was too big to pass up on."
With Burgess playing this season, freshman guard Jack Benter is the lone freshman who will redshirt at Purdue. The three-star guard would've likely seen limited action because of a clogged backcourt that features Braden Smith, Fletcher Loyer, Gicarri Harris, CJ Cox and Myles Colvin.
Painter has said that there will be games where Burgess will probably be needed. There may also be times when he doesn't enter the game. That's the nature of the beast for Purdue right now.
Make no mistake, though, Painter likes what his 6-foot-11 freshman brings to the floor.
"He can shoot and he can post," Painter said. "He gives us a combination that not everybody on our team has. He has the physical ability to guard (Creighton center) Ryan Kalkbrenner the other day, which was a really good sign.
"He has a complete package. Not everybody on our front line has that."
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