Times Correspondent
WEST LAFAYETTE | Losing 25 pounds and erasing any physical gains Robbie Hummel gained during his freshman year at Purdue wasn’t the way he wanted to start his offseason.
But just after the spring semester, Hummel battled salmonella that put him in the hospital and wouldn’t let him eat for six days. Then the sophomore forward from Valparaiso endured a tonsillectomy to relieve sleep apnea that limited his eating and eliminated physical activity for more than two weeks.
In just three weeks of his summer, he was frail and unsure of his basketball abilities.
“At the start I was worried because I had lost so much weight,” said Hummel, who was named Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year Sunday.
The weight loss came only two months after Purdue was dispatched from the NCAA Tournament in the second round by a “bigger, stronger” Xavier team. The undersized Boilers made the weight room their No. 1 priority for the offseason and Hummel found himself weighing around 180 pounds – 48 pounds less than today.
“When I was a freshman in high school I remember I weighed like 175,” Hummel said. “So, it was frustrating because that Xavier loss was on the physical side and to lose all that I had built up was tough.”
Once Hummel stepped on the court for his first workout after his weight loss, he knew he had to structure his eating and lifting to regain and surpass where he was months before. His diet featured grilled chicken breasts, vegetables, peanut butter sandwiches and no fast food or pop as he spent hours in weight room.
“I ate the most healthy I have all my life,” said Hummel, who started to see progress in June. “I lifted as hard as I could and I got my body back to where it was and even farther.”
Now, Hummel is lifting personal-bests to go along with his teammates who took advantage of one-on-one time in the weight room during the summer.
“We are definitely a much stronger team,” said sophomore guard and E.C. Central grad E’Twaun Moore. “We knew what we had to do in the weight room this summer and we did it.”
Sophomore forward JaJuan Johnson, who is expected to be Purdue’s starting big man, is up 10 pounds from last season to 220 and is benching a lifetime best 255 pounds. Painter is fine with Johnson not being a “Charles Oakley-type guy” as long as he uses his athleticism to his advantage.
“He doesn’t have a great base,” Painter said. “He has to do a better job playing with a base and having balance. When he uses his athleticism, he is a productive guy. I thought overseas he was able to do that.”
Overseas was a trip to Australia to further the team’s maturation. The competition was 30-and-40-year-olds and Painter was pleased with the trip’s outcome.
“I thought in Australia, from a physical standpoint, it was a great learning tool, especially on the glass,” Painter said. “I think it really exposed one of our weaknesses and I think that’s important to do, especially when the games don’t count.
“I think it will definitely help us come this winter.”
Moore, who was named first-team All-Big Ten Sunday, said he doesn’t think Purdue will face a more physical team than the Boilers played in Australia. Ideally, that experience helps Purdue improve its rebounding after being outrebounded by three boards a game last season. Purdue finished the season ninth in rebounding in the Big Ten
“I think our rebounding is going to be better,” Painter said. “We’re not going to lead the Big Ten in rebounding. We have to fight like hell to get in the middle of that pack.”
Purdue tips off its exhibition season at 8 p.m. Friday in Mackey Arena against Florida Southern.
Published in the Northwest Indiana Times in October of 2008.
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