The past year has been a big one for Purdue commit Luke Ertel. The 6-foot-1 guard has catapulted in the recruiting rankings with his play during the Indiana high school basketball season and into the AAU circuit. He capped off the summer with some impressive numbers.
Ertel finished the 3SSB Circuit with Indiana Elite averaging 19.2 points and 5.4 assists per game and shot 40% from behind the three-point line. He also posted an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.32. With those numbers, the future Boilermaker ranked second in assists, seventh in scoring, fifth in assist-to-turnover ratio, and ninth in three-point percentage on the circuit, per Synergy Basketball.
Not a bad summer for the rising high school senior.
IE 2026 @ErtelLuke put together a standout Spring/Summer.
— Indiana Elite Basketball (@IndianaEliteIE) July 25, 2025
Per @SynergySST (Min. 10 Games Played)
• 7th in PPG – 19.2
• 9th in 3PT% – 40.0%
• 2nd in Assists – 5.4
• 3rd in Poss+Ast – 25.1
• 5th in AST/TO Ratio – 2.32 ⚖️
Efficient. Smart. Productive. … pic.twitter.com/ya9Ln1MVZP
Ertel has been committed to Purdue since August 2024, an early pledge to the program. In the year since his verbal pledge to Matt Painter and the Boilermakers, the point guard's stock has continued to rise in the recruiting rankings.
When he first committed to Purdue, Ertel was listed as a three-star prospect by 247Sports and was ranked in the 100s as a member of the 2026 recruiting. Boy, how things have changed.
In June, 247Sports updated its recruiting rankings for the 2026 class and Ertel received a major bump. He catapulted up to No. 54 in the updated rankings. The Fortville product is now considered the No. 1 prospect from Indiana and a top-five point guard in the cycle.
During the 2024-25 campaign at Mt. Vernon, Ertel averaged 22.7 points, 4.0 assists, 6.4 rebounds, and 1.4 steals per game. He also shot 51% from the floor and 45% from three-point range. The Marauders finished the season with a 21-6 record, reaching the semi-state round of the IHSAA Boys Basketball Tournament.
In the Indiana Junior-Senior All-Star Game, Ertel scored 36 points, the most scored by a junior player in the game's history, per Kyle Neddenriep of The Indianapolis Star. The previous record was owned by former North Central star Eric Gordon and former Lawrence North standout Greg Oden, who both scored 29 points in the 2000s.
Ertel also nearly recorded a triple-double in the Indiana-Kentucky All-Star Game, scoring 36 points, dishing out 13 assists, and grabbing nine rebounds.
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