After a strong regular season debut, it appeared as if Daniel Jacobsen had earned the starting center position, beating out William Berg and Raleigh Burgess for the spot.
Then, on Friday Night’s opening possession, Jacobsen took a knee to the side of his shin area. I was hopeful that it would be a bone bruise, but it has now been reported that Daniel broke his Tibia, effectively ending his true freshman season for Matt Painter.
Jacobsen would have provided the much-needed rim protection this team needs, after losing Zach Edey to the NBA this offseason. Now, Purdue will have to turn to Will Berg, Caleb Furst, Raleigh Burgess, and Trey Kaufman-Renn to man the interior this season.
Immediately after the injury, Will Berg was subbed in to replace Jacbonsen and maybe that will be the plan moving forward. Or, maybe Coach Painter will go smaller and roll with TKR at center or Caleb Furst to provide a more athletic lineup.
None of the options will provide the rim protection that Jacobsen would have, so the jobs of the guards and wings on the perimeter just got that much harder.
It is a major blow to the start of the season, but with he being just one game into his freshman season, he should be able to receive a medical redshirt this year and have four years to play at Purdue still.
