Purdue freshman Antione West Jr. works on development, uses his voice during redshirt season

When P.J. Thompson recently met with freshman Antione West Jr., the Purdue assistant coach who oversees the team’s offense asked a basic question.

“ ‘You aren’t playing, but do you feel you’re getting better?’ ” Thompson recalled.

The response?

“ ‘Way better,’ ” West told Thompson. “That was his answer. That’s the goal.”

Thompson and West meet a lot. They watch film. It started with a request from the native of Toledo, Ohio, to sit with Thompson and study clips, including watching point guard Braden Smith.

“I thought that was beyond mature of him to be a redshirt and want to watch film like he’s playing in the game,” Thompson said.

Here’s another sign of maturity from the 6-foot-3 guard.

After the team’s losing streak reached three following setbacks to UCLA, Illinois, and Indiana last month, a players-only meeting was organized. It wasn’t a surprise since the Boilermakers had plenty to sort through, and the once-promising season wasn’t going as planned.

During this meeting, West was among the players who spoke up, expressing his feelings and thoughts on where the team stood as the midway point of the Big Ten season approached.

Although West isn’t playing, he’s part of the daily routine. He participates in practice as a member of the scout team. He lifts weights and maintains his conditioning level. He’s on the bench during games, observing habits – good and bad – and recognizing where this team might fall short in certain situations, but also seeing what makes this group special.

“I’ve always been the type to lead by example, for the most part,” said West, who didn’t share what he said during the meeting. “As I got older, I started to lead with my voice a little bit more. Obviously, I’m not out there, so just trying to help any way I can. That vocal part is just something that I have.”

Thompson wasn’t in the room during the meeting, but snippets of the conversation eventually reached the coaches. Thompson wasn’t surprised to learn about West’s contributions.

“He’s not afraid to use his voice,” Thompson said.

West watches the game with less emotion since he’s not on the court. It allows him to see situations more clearly instead of being trapped in the moment of a certain play or a call that didn’t go his team’s way.

He can sit back and objectively analyze each situation.

“I talked to him about how you’ve got to talk to these guys because they played the game with emotion,” Thompson said. “What they see or what they feel may not always be true, because they’re so competitive and they’re in it.

“Whereas, you’re watching the game, you’re not playing, and what you’re saying is not going to be anything but the truth. I think he talked to the guys about that, and I thought what I heard that he said was awesome.”

West hopes his teammates have gained more respect and that his desire to be part of the conversation and to seek solutions has been recognized. It can only help West starting next season when he takes on a more active role.

“Seeing that I am one to speak up, I have something to say,” he said. “I’m not just sitting there being quiet or just holding my tongue about anything. I feel like they’ll definitely respect that. And moving forward, maybe it’ll invite some more of the players to do it themselves.”

BUILDING WEST’S BRAIN WILL HELP PURDUE DOWN THE ROAD

Once West made the decision to redshirt, he called his first practice “terrible.” He lacked focus.

“I was all messed up,” he said.

The backcourt was too crowded to include West, and finding significant minutes was going to be nearly impossible. Trying to join the rotation this season wasn’t worthwhile.

West did his diligence in making the important decision. He leaned on the people he trusts, and he also has real-life examples currently in the program who can speak from experience.

“There’s been people before me that have had success with this decision and knowing that it’s a special situation with the kind of team that we have with such good players,” he said. “I just want to work hard. I want to do what I know and be who I know I can be, and just knowing that it’ll all come eventually.”

Thompson’s goal is make sure the two are on the same page when preparations for next season begin. That’s why the pair will watch 25 clips of Smith on offense and defense during their film sessions, going over every detail numerous times throughout the season.

It’s all about building West’s brain, Thompson said. The staff did the same thing with Smith.

“If we can get the people with the basketball to think like myself, who runs the offense, like (assistant coach) Sasha Stefanovic, like coach (Matt) Painter, we think our team will have more success,” he said.

“Personally, with Braden, if we can think the same, I can get his temperament to always be steady. I feel like it’ll put Purdue in a better situation, and with Antoine being the future, having the ball in his hands a lot. It’s that same type of teaching and progression.”

West isn’t shy about peppering Thompson with questions during their film sessions. He also engages in conversations with Trey Kaufman-Renn, Fletcher Loyer, Smith, and other teammates, trying to learn as much as possible. West wants to know what everybody else knows and apply that knowledge to his situation.

“It brings stuff together,” West said.

PLAYS WITH PACE, AGGRESSIVE ON DEFENSE

Thompson has seen improvement in West’s decision-making since the start of the season. West plays with pace, knowing when to go fast and when to go slow. He initiates the offense. He understands how to use ball screens and is learning when to keep the ball in his hands and when to find the open player. He does bring a level of defensive aggression to the scout team.

“A lot of players were complaining about it, and I’m telling him, ‘It’s OK. We can tone you down, but we can’t build you up. Keep doing that because we can make adjustments,’ ” Thompson said. “He plays with that passion and that aggression, and he’s still doing it in practice every day.”

Although he’s not running Purdue’s system, West can still showcase his individual skills. It’s helped keep his edge throughout the season, knowing his time is coming and he’s determined to be ready and take the next step in his development.

“I’ve seen a big jump in my reads and how quickly I can make decisions and just my comfortability,” West said. “Once I got comfortable with how I can implement my personal game into the system, everything started falling in place.”

Purdue hosts Indiana on Fox Primetime–Purduesports.com