Evan Boudreaux's Senior Day an Unexpected Pleasure
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Five years and two stops later, Evan Boudreaux's college basketball career is about to end. But the Purdue senior forward plans on going out on a high note because, well, that's just what you do when you're a Boudreaux.
The adoring fans at Mackey Arena will show Boudreaux and his uber-successful parents all sorts of love on Saturday in the Boilermakers' final regular-season home game. It's Senior Day against Rutgers, a big day for Boudreaux because e has become a fan favorite this year, and not for his receding hairline or frumpy Constanza-like look.
They love him because, quite simply, he just plays harder than everyone else.
That's what has defined him during this up-and-down senior season, and now it's just about over.
"It does all go by fast. My first years at Dartmouth feel like a lifetime ago,'' said Boudreaux, who was a premier Ivy League player for two years before graduating early and transferring to Purdue. "It's been great here. Purdue feels like home to me, and I've loved my time here.
"If I had to do it all over, I would make the same decision again. The reasons why I wanted to come here were to win and be a part of something bigger. I've done that. I definitely wouldn't trade it in for anything.''
Born into greatness
To say that Boudreaux was a natural-born athlete isn't an understatement at all. His mother Gail was a three-time All-American basketball player at Dartmouth in the early 1980s. She's now one of the most powerful women in the business world as CEO of Anthem Insurance, a massive Fortune 500 company. His father Terry played lacrosse at Georgia, and he's a noted and famous paleontologist.
Boudreuax had a great high school career in Lake Forest, Ill., scoring 2,076 points, making first-team all-State and finishing third in the Illinois Mr. Basketball voting. He decided to go to Dartmouth, his mother's alma mater, and had two great seasons tearing up the Ivy League.
That was nice, but he wanted more.
So he opted to graduate from Dartmouth in three years, and he didn't play basketball that third season so he could have two years of eligibility left. He wanted to be on a bigger stage, and Matt Painter and Purdue gave him that option. He was in and out of the lineup a lot last year, but he's been a critical piece to Purdue's season this time around.
"It was tough being hurt (last year), and obviously when I came here, I came here to play, not necessarily be on the bench all the time,'' Boudreaux said. "Things happen, injuries and other people stepping up and all those things. Those were things I couldn't control.
"There's stuff you can't control, but this year, being able to come back and have a role, it's definitely let me check off some boxes for me, and it made this season that much more special. It's pretty wild that it's the last couple of games of my career. November to March goes by pretty quick.''
Every time Purdue has been down this year, it's been Boudreuax who has supplied the energy. After an ugly loss to Illinois in January, Purdue was going through another listless practice and Painter noticed that Boudreuax and redshirt Mason Gillis were the only guys playing hard.
So he rewarded Boudreaux by putting him in the start lineup two nights later in a home game against Wisconsin. He was a fireball right out of the gate, helping Purdue dash out to a huge lead by grabbing one offensive rebound after another. He scored 10 points and had 13 rebounds and the Boilermakers were suddenly feeling good about themselves again.
"He got all those rebounds because he worked harder than everyone else,'' teammate Matt Haarms said that night. "He wasn't taking no for an answer. He was just going to get every single rebound, and he didn't care who it took it from. He took one or two from me.''
There have been many more games like that since he's staying in the starting lineup. He had 18 points in the blowout win against Iowa in Mackey, and he had 15 rebounds against Michigan. Tuesday night, with Purdue's postseason hopes on the line, he had 14 points and 14 rebounds at Iowa in the Boilermakers' huge 77-68 upset on the road. Even Iowa coach Fran McCaffery was gushing over how hard he played.
And now, the end is near
Why not, is all that Boudreaux would say. Why wouldn't he play hard? That's what he does. Especially in March, with so much as stake.
"Every game is like a play-in game for us right now,'' Boudreaux said. "It's hard as a freshman or sophomore to really grasp what that means, that every game is something, or a do-or-die situation when it comes to making the tournament. Everyone needs to be on their toes, because we can still play our way in.
"You definitely get the sense of urgency when you're a senior. You don't feel that way when you're young. For seniors, this is it. I don't have another next year. When you see those last one or two games on the schedule, it really hits hard.''
Basketball has been a family affair for the Boudreaux family for years. They've been through a lot, even his father's cancer battle, and in the end, they've always had basketball. Now that chapter is about to end.
"They're sad about it. Especially with my parents, I can count on my hands the number or games they've missed,'' Boudreaux said. "It's great we have things like Senior Day, where they can come and experience that with me. We're all excited about it. It's going to be quite a day.''
When it's all said and done, Boudreaux said he's ready to catch his breath a bit and enjoy his family for a while.
"I'm going to take some time and spend it with my family, travel a little bit, I think. I want to go experience different things that I've missed out on, playing serious basketball since I was little,'' he said. "I think everyone knows you don't get to spend as much time with your family as you want. With everything that's been going on with my dad's health and my mom's work schedule, being able to relax a little bit and spend some time with them is going to be really important to me.''
And after that, having massive success in the business world doesn't seem like much of a reach for Boudreaux. He'll have degrees from two prestigious schools, and he's got the brain and the drive to accomplish whatever he wants.
"For me, I'm a really competitive person, so ultimately I really want to lead my own business,'' he said. "I'm not beholden to one area or industry per se, but I'm excited to get out and enter the working world eventually.
"It's one of those things where I want to be one of the guys who can build their way to the top and be really competitive in a working environment.''
No one doubts he'll do it, either. Because he'll be the hardest-working guy in that room, too.
💪 Evan Almighty.@EBoudreaux is going out with a bang. pic.twitter.com/U8u7sbd6iQ
— Purdue Men's Basketball (@BoilerBall) March 4, 2020
Tom Brew is an award-winning journalist who's worked at some America's finest newspapers, including the Tampa Bay (Fla.) Times, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and the Indianapolis Star. He also owns the book publishing company, Hilltop30 Publishing Group, and he has written four books and published 16 others.