Lake County Gazette

Evan Boudreaux is starting to feel even more at home in West Lafayette.

Boudreaux is set to join the Purdue men’s basketball team roster next fall after transferring from Dartmouth as a graduate student. The Lake Forest grad said his experience as a Boilermaker is proving to be everything he’s always thought it would be.

“It’s been great,” he told the Chicago Tribune. “The first thing you notice when you come here is the culture. The work ethic, guys push each other — you see right out of the gate, the way guys work on their game is really special. It makes things a lot easier.”

Boudreaux also marvels at the way all his new teammates seem to be cut from the same cloth he is.

“It’s a blue-collar mentality, and that’s exactly who I am as a player,” he said. 

Purdue recruited Boudreaux out of high school before he opted for Dartmouth, where he played for two seasons before sitting out his junior year. When he decided to leave Dartmouth, Boudreaux initially settled on Xavier, but when head coach Chris Mack announced he was leaving for Louisville, Purdue was again in the picture.

“I’ve always had a great familiarity with coach (Matt) Painter and the staff,” Boudreaux said. “They were always really honest with me, and you don’t always find that all the time in the recruiting process. I appreciated that. I wanted to go to a team that had a real shot at playing in the NCAA Tournament and doing well... . In terms of success, it’s hard to beat what Purdue has done. That was a huge factor.”

At Dartmouth, Boudreaux averaged 17.7 points and 9.4 rebounds as a freshman, and 17.5 and 9.5 as a sophomore. In each of those seasons, he was named to the all-conference second team and chosen Ivy League Rookie of the Year as a freshman.

Boudreaux said that his numbers in West Lafayette don’t need to be anywhere near that gaudy for his time there to be deemed a smashing success.  

“I’m not worried about my stats — I just want to do whatever it takes to help us win,” he said. “Rebounding tends to translate, and I’m sure Coach Painter will put me — and all of us — in positions to be successful. Being an older guy, I’ve been through college games, I’ve experienced different arenas. I’m trying to be a little bit of a leader and do what the coaches ask to make us better. I’m just really looking forward to being able to spend the next two years here.”