"We have a new elf" "Purdue looking legit": College hoops fans react as Matt Painter's squad lands sharpshooter

NCAA Basketball: North Florida at Florida - Source: Imagn

Coach Matt Painter and the Purdue Boilermakers had a strong season, reaching the Sweet 16 of March Madness, where they lost 62–60 to the Houston Cougars. Although they would have liked to come away with the victory, nearly defeating the March Madness runner-up is impressive.

Purdue will be looking to improve its team so that it can advance past the Sweet 16 next season. As a result, they have been making moves in the transfer portal. It was announced on Wednesday that the Boilermakers received a commitment from North Florida forward Liam Murphy.

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When this news came out, it was quickly posted on the college basketball subreddit. Fans reacted to the news that Matt Painter and the Boilermakers added a new sharpshooter to their squad. One even joked that he looks a bit like an elf.

"Thank god we have a new elf," one fan wrote.

"I don't know what unleashed this version of Matt Painter, but I am f**king loving it. This team is going to be incredibly deep this year," one fan wrote.

"The hype was real for Edey’s senior season, but I think this upcoming year will have even more pressure, especially with the final four in Indy. Can’t wait!" One fan wrote.

Fans continued to react on Reddit. Many pointed out how good of a shooter he is.

"6'7 and 42% from 3 on good volume. That'll play," one fan wrote.

"I distinctly recall that this guy unequivocally cooked us when we played North Florida in our season opener. He’s a superb shooter and seems like a quintessential Matt Painter sort of player," one fan wrote.

"I was just thinking, we need another white 3 point shooter," one fan wrote.

Liam Murphy is the second player to commit to Purdue in the transfer portal

With Liam Murphy officially committing to the Purdue Boilermakers on Wednesday, coach Matt Painter has secured two commitments in the portal. Joining Murphy is center Oscar Cluff from South Dakota State. Cluff averaged 17.6 points, 12.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists for the Jackrabbits last season. He should bring dominant interior play to the Boilermakers.

Murphy has the opposite profile as a sharpshooting forward. In his first season with the North Florida Ospreys this past season after transferring from Columbia, he averaged 13.0 ppg, 3.3 rpg and 1.4 apg.

About the author

Alexander O'Reilly is a journalist at Sportskeeda from Kingston, Ontario with over seven years in the field at companies including SenShot, RVBlogger, Monarch Media, WordAgents, GSeC LLC, and IGC.

His favorite college team is Duke, and his favorite sporting memory was Duke winning March Madness in 2010. JJ Redick was Alex's favorite college player when he was young but more recently, Caleb Williams gets the nod. As the Chicago Bears are Alex's favorite NFL team, this was a perfect match.

Alex's proudest moment came when he was interviewed by a radio station in Ottawa on his opinion on recent moves by the Ottawa Senators, which gave him a confidence boost and the knowledge that he could succeed as a writer.

Aside from sports, Alex likes to spend his time playing games. He is also very passionate about running and strives to improve at the half and full marathon distances.

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Edited by Abhimanyu Gupta