Purdue Basketball: Welcome Aboard, Freshman Guard Antione West Jr.

Throughout the offseason, Purdue Boilermakers on SI will highlight members of the 2025-26 Purdue men's basketball roster as part of a "Welcome Back/Welcome Aboard" series. This series will focus on recaps from the 2024-25 campaign and look ahead to the upcoming season.

Today's featured player is Antione West Jr., a 6-foot-3 combo guard out of Toledo, Ohio. He was a three-star prospect in the 2025 class, but a player that has potential to make a big impact during his career in West Lafayette.

Antione West Jr.'s experience before Purdue

During his high school career at Whitmer (Ohio) High School in Toledo, West was a prolific scorers and one of the most talented players in the area. He eclipsed the 1,000-point mark early in his junior season (2023-24) and averaged 20.3 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game. That year, he led his team to the state semifinals.

West showed his ability to light up defenses when he was a sophomore, scoring 42 points in a game against Clay High School. With his scoring ability, it's easy to see why coach Matt Painter wanted to bring him to West Lafayette.

As a senior, West was named a Division I second-team All-Ohio selection after averaging 18.3 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game. He ended his career with 1,818 points, setting a new program record at Whitmer.

Matt Painter compared West to Carsen Edwards

Painter was extremely high on West's scoring ability even before he arrived on campus for summer practices. Even though he didn't have the highest ratings from the recruiting websites, Painter knew West could help Purdue in a variety of ways.

"I love Antione West, I think he's fabulous. We're very fortunate to get him," Painter said in November 2024. "Very under-evaluated. He's a winner. He can make plays, he can make shots, he can handle the basketball, distribute, score, make pull-ups. Just a good all-around player."

The comment from Painter that raised eyebrows was when he compared West to Boilermaker great Carsen Edwards, one of the best scorers in Purdue's history.

"Like with Carsen Edwards, after a while, you're like, 'Just shoot it. Let it rip.' That's who he is," Painter said. "I think he has more playmaking (ability) than Carsen, but he still has that element where he can make deep pull-ups, he can shoot off the move. Good player. Just a good all-around player. I'm glad people didn't evaluate him."

Throughout his high school career, West certainly demonstrated his ability to score at will. That's a skill every team in the country can utilize.

Looks like a Big Ten guard already

West hit the floor for Purdue's first summer practice on Monday, and he already looks like a Big Ten guard. He fills out the 6-foot-3, 180-pound measurement listed on his player profile. He's not going to get pushed around by other guards in the conference, that's for sure.

Early in his first practice, West struggled with his jump shot, but that can easily be written off to some butterflies. Once he felt comfortable and got into a rhythm, he was knocking down pull-ups and three-pointers with relative ease. He has great form on his shot, too.

Once you see West live, it's easy to understand why Painter made the comparisons to Edwards. That's not to say there isn't room for improvement, but you can see the potential West brings with him to West Lafayette, especially when it comes to scoring the basketball.

Looking ahead to 2025-26

The biggest question is how West fits into the 2025-26 roster. Will he earn minutes as a true freshman? Will he redshirt and wait for an opportunity to have a bigger role next season? It's too early to predict what his role will be this year.

West joins a crowded backcourt, anchored by three-year starters Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer. Sophomores CJ Cox and Gicarri Harris are both returning, Jack Benter is coming back after redshirting last season, and Omer Mayer can also play both guard positions. Finding minutes could be difficult.

Purdue already has a roster loaded with shooters, so West's playing time may depend on his ability to defend. If he can lock down guards around the perimeter, he may earn some time on the court. If not, we may not see him play until the 2026-27 campaign.

In most situations, West would probably carve out a role for himself immediately. But Purdue doesn't need a high-volume shooter and scorer for the 2025-26 season. It has assembled a roster full of stars and complementary pieces. That's the only thing that could potentially stand in the way of West getting substantial minutes as a true freshman.

Then again, we've seen true freshmen come in and carve out a role at Purdue before. It's going to be interesting to see how West's journey begins in West Lafayette.

Antione West Jr. highlights