The NIL & Transfer Portal Era of the NCAA shows a lot about who people are, and Caleb Furst may be one of a kind.
In Caleb Furst’s Freshman and Sophomore years, the Mr. Indiana Basketball Award winner played in 70 games and started nearly half of them. His career highs in points and rebounds per game were all during his sophomore season.
Then, during his junior season, he took a backseat to Purdue’s now-best post player, Trey Kaufman-Renn, forcing Caleb to a bench role. His minutes dropped from 19 per game as a sophomore to just nine.
In today’s college basketball world, it was a feasible thought, will he transfer after his junior year where he lost playing time and became a deep reserve?
But, when times are tough, you often see people for who they truly are. Caleb never wavered from Purdue, he is an oddity in today’s college basketball landscape. Most players would have sought out other opportunities if they saw their minutes cut in half and turned into a reserve.
But instead of running from a challenge, Caleb’s loyalty, trust, and perseverance have led him to wins on and off the court.
He is the all-time winningest player in Purdue’s history, as Matt Painter alluded to last night during the post-game senior night festivities, Coach Painter stated that Caleb has set the standard for future Purdue players.
Caleb was part of a program that won the most Big Ten Games throughout five seasons, he is engaged and will get married soon and will start Medical School this summer.
Purdue was blown out right before Christmas.
I am not sure if you recall, but I do. After watching that game I felt like the Boilermakers were exposed, and something had to change.
Changes were made, Caleb Furst was inserted into the starting lineup after that game and Purdue would go on to win seven in a row before dropping a home game to Ohio State.
Purdue would go on to have a tough four-game stretch, losing to ranked Michigan, Wisconsin, Michigan State, and unranked Indiana.
Fans clamored for change again, because it worked so well last time, but the rotation remained the same and Purdue would beat a good UCLA team at home and a Rutgers Team that presumably has two top five picks in the upcoming NBA Draft.
The calendar has turned to March, and one win at a time is the most important win in March. But Caleb Furst, will continue to rack up more wins to make his record even more impressive, he has shown that he is already winning off the court, winning in the game of life.
He is an oddity to modern-day college athletics, but to Purdue fans, he is a Boilermaker.
Congratulations, future Dr. Furst!