Sanders: Purdue worse off than Butler in transfer carousel
By BROCK SANDERS
ISL Correspondent
INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana schools have been hit hard by transfers recently.
I already wrote about Austin Etherington and Jeremy Hollowell leaving IU, but it was also announced that sophomore guard Ronnie Johnson would transfer from Purdue and freshman center Nolan Berry would leave Butler.
I am a little nervous for Purdue. The Boilermakers lost their two starting guards, brothers Ronnie and Terone Johnson. Terone is a senior and will be graduating, and Ronnie will be transferring to another school. They do have some young talent in freshman guard Bryson Scott from Fort Wayne Northrop, who gave them great minutes this year. Basil Smotherman out of Lawrence North added versatility as a forward.
If 7-foot sophomore center A.J. Hammons decides to declare for the NBA Draft, though, Purdue may be in big trouble. The Boilermakers will be talented, but they will also be young and inexperienced.
There are rumors going around that Ronnie Johnson and Jeremy Hollowell will end up at the same school. If true, that could be huge for whatever school that is. Johnson is a proven point guard who can score if he needs to, and Hollowell has huge potential. Personally, I think they would both be a great fit at Butler if the Bulldogs chose to extend them offers.
Alex Barlow will be a senior next year, and I think Johnson would get a lot of time, if not start for the Bulldogs, after sitting for a year. Hollowell could be that wing player that Butler needs to be another scoring threat other than sophomore guard Kellen Dunham. This could be a great fit for both parties.
Berry is a 6-10 center out of St. Louis, Missouri who really didn’t play that much this year for Brandon Miller and the Bulldogs. What really hurt Berry was the emergence of 6-7 freshman forward/center Andrew Chrabascz. Towards the end of the year, Butler had a solid rotation of big men with Chrabascz and Khyle Marshall starting and Kameron Woods coming off of the bench for both of them. Berry saw little to no playing time in some games. Most of his five minutes per game came during junk time when Butler was down big. Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, they had a lot more junk time than they wanted.
Perhaps more famous than Nolan Berry as a player is his hair. In fact there is even a Twitter account (@NolanBerrysHair) that is not associated with Berry or the Bulldogs that impersonates his flow. If a Twitter account acting to be your hair is getting more attention than you are as a player, I wouldn’t blame him for transferring. Butler fans should not worry, however, because even though Marshall will be graduating, they will still have a solid rotation between Woods and Chrabascz. The Bulldogs are also recruiting Tyler Wideman, a big man out of Lake Central High School here in Indiana. He’s a pretty promising talent as well. I have watched him play a couple times in high school and he knows how to use his body well and crash the boards. Lake Central will be playing for the 4A state championship Saturday night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse against Indianapolis Tech.
I think Butler will be fine with Berry’s transfer, but Purdue could struggle with losing Ronnie Johnson. It will be even worse if Hammons leaves. Still, Matt Painter knows what he’s doing, and I think he can slowly improve Purdue’s team if the fans just give him time.
Leave comments below! How will these transfers affect your team?
