Yahoo Sports 
Caleb Swanigan's commitment creates a challenge for Matt Painter
Purdue will certainly be bigger after landing a McDonald's All-American for the first time in 19 years on Tuesday afternoon.
Whether the Boilermakers will also be drastically better will depend on Matt Painter's ability to turn a logjam at center into a strength rather than a weakness.
Five-star prospect Caleb Swanigan is a strong, sure-handed low-post scorer who is most comfortable in the paint on both ends of the floor. He joins a frontcourt that already possesses a pair of centers with similar skill sets — 7 footers A.J. Hammons and Isaac Haas.
For that arrangement to work, Swanigan is probably going to have to spend the majority of his time at power forward.
The upside will be that Purdue will frequently have two dominant rebounders and low-post threats on the floor, which should create mismatches against smaller opponents who play only one true big man at a time. The downside will be that Swanigan will have to prove on defense that he can stay in front of more nimble Big Ten forwards like Indiana's Troy Williams, Wisconsin's Nigel Hayes and Iowa's Jarrod Uthoff.
Spacing on offense also could become an issue since Haas, Hammons and Swanigan are each most effective within six feet of the basket. Neither Hammons nor Haas have a single 3-pointer in their Purdue careers, while Swanigan hasn't had a reason to develop a consistent jump shot to this point because he has always been able to overpower opponents around the rim.
The other concern for Purdue is the lack of a proven point guard to get the ball to those low-post weapons in spots where they like to score. The Boilermakers hope that Texas-Arlington transfer Johnny Hill can be as steady as Colorado State transfer Jon Octeus turned out to be this past season, but Hill played in a weaker conference than Octeus and didn't post as impressive numbers.
All those issues may diminish Swanigan's immediate impact for Purdue, but his addition is still a plus for a Boilermakers program that had to work hard to land him. Swanigan initially committed to Michigan State last month before backing out of his initial pledge two weeks ago.
Once Swanigan cooled on the Spartans, he considered two other options besides Purdue. He could have joined close friends and fellow elite recruits Jaylen Brown and Ivan Rabb as part of the most anticipated recruiting class Cal has signed in decades. Or he could have capitalized on late interest from Kentucky and helped fill the void created by the departure of seven key players from last year's Final Four team.
Purdue out-dueled the Bears and the Wildcats because Swanigan is from just up the road in Fort Wayne and because it had been recruiting him the longest. Matt Painter also had a natural advantage in the form of Roosevelt Barnes, Swanigan's guardian and a former Purdue linebacker.
Excellent depth at wing and in the frontcourt gives Purdue hope of beginning the year in the top 25, but the Boilermakers may still be hard-pressed to contend in the Big Ten even with Swanigan. Preseason top-five Maryland and fellow top teams Michigan State, Michigan, Indiana and Wisconsin will each be formidable competition.
Some have already said that Swanigan's decision could give Purdue one of the nation's top frontcourts, but that also might be a bit premature.
Skilled forward Kyle Wiltjer, mammoth center Przemek Karnowski and elite prospect Domantas Sabonis all fit together perfectly at Gonzaga. Perry Ellis and top recruit Cheick Diallo could form a great tandem at Kansas. Brice Johnson, Kennedy Meeks and Justin Jackson also have good chemistry at North Carolina.
For Painter, building an elite frontcourt could be more challenging. One option is developing Swanigan's perimeter skills this summer. Another is utilzing more zone to enable his big men to stay around the rim.
It's a good problem for Purdue to have, but Painter will have to be creative to solve it.
- - - - - - -
Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
