Purdue Basketball Offseason Homework: Daniel Jacobsen

The touted freshman suffered a shortened season but returns fully healthy for off season workouts

A highly anticipated freshman season for the 7’4 big man was cut short because of an injury that was sustained in the second game of the season. The injury, which ended up being diagnosed as a broken tibia, required surgery for repair but may have served as a long term benefit for the young big man. Headed into his second season with the Boilers, Jacobsen is surrounded by an immense amount of veteran talent to help guide him in what should be his first full season of playing time.

Jacobsen entered his time at Purdue as one of the hottest high school prospects following a great showing on the U-18 team. In those games, Jacobsen started all six games and averaged 9.2 points, 7 rebounds, and a team-high 3.2 blocks in just 16.3 minutes of playing time. His 19 blocked shots in the FIBA U-18 AmeriCup set a new Team USA record, passing Myles Turner’s 18 in 2014, and helped win a gold medal. That level of defensive presence was incredibly important to the Boilers heading into a very promising 2024-2025 and it was evident Purdue lacked that exact skill.

Jacobsen spent the time off the floor adding muscle and much needed bulk as he now weights 250 pounds, up from the 220 he had when he arrived on campus. With an inability to work on his lower half until recently when he completed his rehab, Jacobsen focused on his upper body strength and gaining perspective and knowledge from being able to watch games from the sideline. Jacobsen recently was given a full release to begin his off season, one that many around the program expect a big jump to occur.

As has been the tune for the big men at Purdue over the last decade, the biggest advantage each has been able to use in their development is being able to develop alongside high level players. Hammons to Haas to Swanigan to Haarms to Trevion to Edey to TKR and finally to Jacobsen should not be overlooked but Jacobsen may have the biggest advantage of them all. Not only is TKR considered one of the best low post scorers in the country, Purdue added Oscar Cluff in the low post who is also considered one of the best big men in the country. An off season of development that will see him going head to head against those two players is going to speed up his development in a way that should not be overlooked, but what are those things that Jacobsen needs to focus on heading into his redshirt freshman season?

Seeing Jacobsen in those limited opportunities, it was evident there was a need to add bulk to withstand the physicality of major college basketball. Seemingly, that has been taken care of already in a way that he can spend the off season on other things. Jacobsen’s ability to clog the lane and block shots at 7’4 is unique on this roster and probably the single biggest factor that is going to find him minutes but his ability to stretch the floor with his shooting ability should not be overlooked. He isn’t going to be a back to the basket type of scoring big off the bat but his presence on the offensive end shouldn’t be overlooked when paired with TKR and Cluff.

Where he needs to really make his improvement on the offensive end outside of developing his back to the basket scoring is developing alongside Braden Smith as a legitimate pop threat off on ball screens to Smith. Having that threat really opens up more scoring opportunities for Smith and on the backside of the offense as defenses have to respect the shooting ability of Jacobsen. DJ has shown an ability to be a consistent shooter from behind the arc and he needs to get himself to a consistency of around 35%.

Physically, Jacobsen possesses a unique amount of athleticism seen by fellow big men AJ Hammons and Matt Haarms and that has likely led to those two being the shot blockers they turned out to be. Jacobsen can be a player similar to those two who possessed the ability to shut down the ability of opponents to get to the rim and force them into contested mid-range jumpers. To enhance that natural ability, increasing his lateral movement is likely going to be a major focus in the offseason. That should especially be true as he comes back from the broken tibia he suffered.

Inevitably, Jacobsen will battle for a starting position again next season and that battle starts now. Ultimately, that decision is going to be a difficult one for Matt Painter to make given the quality of players he is going to choose from. It is obvious that TKR is going to get 30+ minutes per game but how he rotates Jacobsen, Cluff, and even Liam Murphy is going to require a lot of finesse and scheme. Who better to figure that out than Purdue’s Head Coach who has dealt with this era of college basketball better than almost any other coach in the country.