Omer Mayer's time at Purdue is now

When Omer Mayer committed to Purdue last spring, he signed up for a very specific plan for his freshman season and beyond.

Knowing full well that Purdue had All-American point guard Braden Smith, Mayer made the uncommon and eye-opening decision to sign with a school that already had an elite player at his position, whereas he could’ve gone to any number of other schools and been the guy right away.

The point was for the overseas star to play behind and with Smith as a freshman, then take the reins of one of college basketball’s best offensive programs in Year 2.

The wait, understandably, wasn’t always easy.

“We were honest with Omer,” Coach Matt Painter said. “We got Omer, but we didn’t say anything that didn’t happen.

“So when he had frustrations last year, we would just come back and say, ‘All right, let’s talk about our initial meeting and what we said, and how some things were going to be difficult. Here it is.’”

Now, the payout.

Though the summer workouts that begin Monday will ultimately determine Purdue’s offensive composition this season, Mayer simply slides into Smith’s role — or something very close to it — right away. He’ll, in short, have the ball in his hands.

“A lot of what he did last year, he was being ultra-aggressive from the time he got in the game because he knew he was probably going to play seven minutes and be done,” offensive play-caller P.J. Thompson said. “Play five to seven minutes straight and that was going to be it.

“When you’re a point guard and you play more minutes, if you’ve seen the great point guards, they know how to manipulate the game. The great point guards do so by understanding when they’ve got to put pressure on and look to score. They understand when their shooting guard hasn’t had a touch in a while and how they can organically get him into action to get an advantage and make him feel like he’s in the flow of the game.”

For Mayer, that will mean both table-setting, running offense, but also pressuring defenses as a scorer, with a pull-up jumper, notably, that served as a real spark at times for Purdue off the bench at times last season.

Mayer played just 14.3 minutes per game last season, but averaged 15.3 points per 40 minutes.

His opportunities were diverse. In addition to running ball screens as Purdue’s primary ball-handler when Smith sat, Mayer logged significant minutes playing with Smith in two-point guard sort of lineups. In that role, Mayer shot roughly 36 percent on catch-and-shoot threes, a respectable number for a player accustomed to playing with the ball in his hands, and generally held up as an off-ball defender.

That type of usage probably isn’t going to change.

Purdue still expects to use Mayer off the ball, to play alongside Luke Ertel or Antione West when they take over the point guard position or another role alongside Mayer.

But by and large, again, the ball is now primarily Mayer’s, putting the onus this summer on his mastery of the playbook and reads, his aggressiveness, his chemistry in pick-and-roll with Daniel Jacobsen, etc.

It may all start with Mayer looking to score and playing off that.

“The great point guards I’ve always studied and loved understand that they’re master manipulators. Although Omer probably looked more like a scorer, and I think he can really put the ball in the basket, from watching the film before we got him and understanding who he is, he wants to make others better.

“He can do so through his passing. Whether it’s in ball screens or some off-ball action, he has it all to be able to do that. I think he’s worked really hard. He’s gotten himself into better shape where he can do it for a longer period against quicker defenders and primary defenders.”