Purdue basketball roster remains, staff shifts

Syndication: Journal-Courier

Purdue has appeared to hold off the ravages of portal season once more.

Purdue announced all of its scholarship players would be staying for next season after Purdue graduated four seniors from last years team and made it all the way to the Elite Eight.

It’s almost an unprecedented level of retention against a shifting college basketball landscape, but that doesn’t mean things aren’t changing for Purdue.

Matt Painter has shaken up his coaching staff for the first time in almost half a decade, losing an assistance coaching adding two familiar names to his grad assistants this coming up season.

Let’s take a look at all that’s changed and hasn’t for Purdue as it heads into summer.

They’re all coming back!

Omer Mayer. CJ Cox. Gicarri Harris. Daniel Jacobsen. Raleigh Burgess. Jack Benter. Antione West.

In a world where the future is the next player you can buy from somewhere else, Painter continues to buck the trend and change his team through selective addition and a whole lot of development. It’s easy to get poetic and sing-songy about it.

But Purdue will get to once against reap the return on the work its put into its players. The system will evolve, the team will change, but it won’t be pieced together in an off season. Purdue coaches will have hundreds of practices and thousands of minutes together to know how to get the most out of the players it has.

Terry Johnson departs

Assistant Coach Terry Johnson has been part of the two-headed defensive coordinator position for the last few years and is one of the most personable humans you will ever meet. Johnson was a constant energetic and positive presence and helped steer Purdue to a national title game and two Big Ten titles while at Purdue after coming over from Ohio State.

Its unknown where he’s left Purdue for but whereever it is, they will have picked up a great coach.

Lance Jones comes home, and welcome Sterling Carter

It was one of the worst kept secrets – Lance Jones is coming back to Purdue.

After spending the last year plus playing in international leagues, Lance Jones is back at Purdue. After spending decent stretches on campus over the last year, its hardly a surprise that Jones if officially returning to Purdue as one of its next batch of grad assistant coaches.

Jones’ infectious energy and recent success and impact at Purdue, despite being there just one season, made him into a fan favorite. He was a similar personality magnet inside the locker room. Jones offers the kind of energy, confidence, and edge that was valuable to provide confidence for the younger guards next to him. He’ll now try to do that from the sidelines as he helps usher in a new starting backcourt for Purdue.

Purdue has made it a priority to create continuation and provide a place for its players to grow both while on the team and after. Jones joins a coaching staff full of former players at Purdue and former Purdue coaches of the past.

But Jones isn’t the only former Purdue transfer joining the staff as a grad assistant.

Sterling Carter is returning to Purdue after trasnferring for the 2013-14 season and spending the last few years coaching at the high school and AAU levels. Carter had his Purdue career cut short by an ACL injry but now gets another chance to make an impact at Purdue.

“Both Lance and Sterling played big parts in our program in the one year they played here, and we are excited to bring them back. Sterling has been involved in coaching for the last several years and is ready to expand his role into the collegiate ranks. Lance is looking to break into coaching for the first time. They both have outstanding personalities and will be a great fit for us and the relationships they will develop at Purdue,” Painter added in a release from Purdue.

Thompson’s ascension stays at Purdue

It’s a matter of when, not if, PJ Thompson will be a head coach somewhere, but even at Purdue there’s room to grow.

Thompson has been named the new associate head coach for Purdue for next season.

“P.J. is one of the brightest young coaches in all of college basketball and he has had a very impressive start to his coaching career,” Painter said. “He has helped transform our offense into the best offense in the country and he has made a major impact in our recruiting efforts. We are excited that he will continue to gain valuable experience here at Purdue and be a fixture in our program for the foreseeable future.”

Thompson has played no small part in keeping Purdue together and adding big recruiting names like Omer Mayer over the last few years. He ran and designed the most efficient offense in the Kenpom era last season and will now have the task of designing

Thompson has also become a power recruiter with his ability to create lasting relationships with players. Thompson is going to be a powerhouse head coach at some point in his career and might be the most influential coach under thirty in the country.

Kenneth Lowe returns to Purdue

Purdue had this to say about its newest assistant coach, who will take over one of the defensive coaching spots at Purdue:

Returning to Purdue as an assistant coach will be former Boilermaker and two-time Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Kenneth Lowe, who just wrapped up his fourth season as an assistant coach at St. Thomas University in Minnesota.

Lowe, who was responsible for the Tommies’ defensive strategy, helped St. Thomas into the Division I era with success. Last season, the Tommies finished with a 24-10 overall record, finishing second in the Summit League with a 12-4 record despite having one of the youngest rosters in the country. St. Thomas boasted the league’s second-ranked defense behind champion North Dakota State.

During the 2024-25 season, the Tommies lost in the conference championship game to Nebraska-Omaha and finished with another 24-10 record and 12-4 league mark. The squad finished among the top 20 nationally in turnover margin.

In his second season during the 2023-24 campaign, St. Thomas finished 17th nationally in scoring defense.

Prior to his time at St. Thomas, Lowe spent five seasons as an assistant coach at Miami, Ohio. Previously, he was at Purdue for four seasons from 2014-17. Lowe replaces Terry Johnson, who has left Purdue for other professional opportunities.

“Kenny brings valuable experience to our coaching staff, both as a former player and assistant coach. At his previous stops, most notably St. Thomas, he has shown an understanding and commitment to coaching at the defensive end and to maximizing player development and improvement. He will be a welcome addition to our program,” Painter said.

Purdue’s playerse will remain the same, but new voices on the sidelines could help as Purdue looks to once again be a surprise player in the Big Ten aftering graduating all-time greats in Braden Smith, Fletcher Loyer, and Trey Kaufman-Renn.

Who are you most excited to see returning to Purdue?