The hype surrounding Purdue’s 7’4″ Daniel Jacobsen‘s comeback from injury is real.
Jacobsen’s freshman year was cut short just one minute into his second game, breaking his leg on November 8 in the Boilermakers’ victory against Northern Kentucky. Despite his limited role in Purdue’s Sweet 16 season, basketball experts know how special Jacobsen is to head coach Matt Painter‘s Boilermaker crew.
This week, Jacobsen was one of 33 players invited to tryouts for USA Basketball’s U19 national team, which will compete in the 2025 FIBA World Cup in Switzerland later this summer.
Not only is this opportunity a distinguished honor for Jacobsen, but fans of Purdue basketball realize the long-term implications of this turn of events: their big man is healthy.
After Zach Edey departed for the NBA following Purdue’s magical run to the NCAA championship game in 2024, the Boilermakers were faced with the impossible task of replacing a legend.
That’s what Daniel Jacobsen was expected to do. He was supposed to seamlessly slip into Edey’s role alongside returning starters Trey Kaufman-Renn and Caleb Furst to form the latest version of the Boilers’ rim protectors. All of those dreams went down in a heap on the Mackey Arena floor in early November when Jacobsen collapsed in pain.
To Matt Painter’s credit, Purdue carried on just fine in Jacobsen’s absence. Juniors Kaufman-Renn and first-team All-American Braden Smith led the Boilermakers to 24 wins, and they, as well as sharpshooter Fletcher Loyer, return for their senior seasons.
To Jacobsen’s credit, he did not let his disappointment fester during his recovery. Knowing he would be back physically, he used his “downtime” to fine-tune other aspects of his game, most notably getting his body bigger and stronger.
When asked about how much weight he has put on, Jacobsen replied: ““Quite a bit. I mean, I was probably at 220 during the season and now I’m up to 250.”
Transforming his body was only one focus of his convalescence. According to Jacobsen, he was able to incorporate basketball-specific skills into his rehab.
“Most of the time I had just been trying to get back to full strength with my leg,” explained Jacobsen. “But yeah, I mean, I’m working on shooting, ball handling, athleticism. I mean, pretty much just being a better all around player.”
With the addition of transfer Oscar Cluff from South Dakota State this season, Purdue seeks to improve on their subpar rebounding production from 2024-25. Despite Kaufman-Renn’s all-Big Ten performance and stellar rebounding totals, the Boilermakers only averaged two more boards than their opponents. Against bigger and more athletic teams such as Texas A&M, Auburn, Michigan State, UCLA, and Houston, Purdue was outrebounded in all of those games, some by double-digits.
Painter realizes that Cluff and a healthy Jacobsen could be the difference come March.
Asked about the addition of Cluff and how that relates to Jacobsen, Painter said: “He (Cluff) was a great rebounder…just his physical play, his ability to pass in the low post; we needed better rebounding. We think Daniel (Jacobsen) can help us in there. We think Oscar is probably more polished in that area. Daniel’s more polished in terms of rim protection, getting flip-up lobs and using his length right there. So we feel really good about that. … That for us was huge.”
All of Painter’s hopes would not be in play had Jacobsen not progressed as a player without hitting the floor. His efforts must have paid off, because his summer just got a lot busier.
Among the 33 players vying for a spot on the U19 national team, Jacobsen is one of seven from major colleges. The others include: LJ Cason (Michigan), Tony Duckett (San Diego), Morez Johnson Jr. (Illinois), Royce Parham (Marquette), Tyrone Riley IV (San Francisco), and Tyler Tanner (Vanderbilt). The rest of the invitees are 13 players who just finished high school and 13 more set to graduate in 2026.
Past participants include NBA stars Nikola Jokic (2013) from Serbia, Victor Wembanyama (2021) from France, and Edey (2021) from Canada.
Whether or not Jacobsen secures a roster spot on this elite team, the experience of such a journey that will draw out his best can only fortify his basketball talents. When that happens, look for Purdue to put its stamp on the college basketball landscape in 2025-26.
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