Purdue center Will Berg won't allow late-season injury to derail future progress

WEST LAFAYETTE – Will Berg was eager to show off a picture from his phone.

The 7-foot-2 Purdue center scrolled through his photos and highlighted the one with bone spurs sitting in a clear plastic cup. The fragments were removed from Berg’s right ankle during surgery about four weeks ago.

How many were in the cup? Berg started counting.

“One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight,” he said.

The bone spurs finally made sense for Berg, who’s had trouble with his ankle since the end of his freshman season in Sweden. He suffered a sprained ankle but didn’t properly go through rehabilitation exercises since he wanted to play, relying on braces to help “play through it” and deal with the situation.

“It caught up to me, I guess,” Berg said.

His mobility was limited due to problems with his ankle, but he played through it. It led to a stress fracture, which eventually snapped during a late-season practice for the Boilermakers last season and required surgery.

“Before my injury, I felt that I was in such good shape,” he said. “I’ve never felt that good about how I was playing.”

After placing screws in his foot, doctors removed the bone spurs and left them next to his hospital bed.

“I’ve never really had mobility in my foot, and even now I’m four weeks post-surgery, and I feel better than I did during the season,” Berg said. “That makes sense now. Hopefully, I’ll be able to move away from that. It will be much better for my future, which is nice.”

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The timing isn’t ideal since the Boilermakers are headed for an overseas trip to Europe in August, but Berg holds out hope he’ll be able to participate. Purdue coach Matt Painter initially said Berg wouldn’t be available to play, but it depends on his recovery timeline.

“He had a huge summer with our trip and some stuff he’s doing with this national team,” Painter said.

He’s expected to be out of his protective boot in early May but also understands the delicate nature of his injury and the importance of the recovery process. 

“You have to be careful since I did break my bone on the inside of that ankle and you can’t really rush that,” said Berg, who had scholarship offers from Illinois and Utah State before signing with Purdue. “Just taking my time with everything.”

The injury came at a time when Berg was showing progress battling National Player of the Year Zach Edey and Trey Kaufman-Renn and building his confidence. Going against the 7-foot-4 Edey and Kaufman-Renn gave Berg a different look during each practice and how to handle the combination of size and quickness.

After arriving on campus last summer, Berg had no idea he would be battling the nation’s top player. He quickly discovered Edey was poised for a big season and the national and Big Ten awards the native of Toronto won tell one part of the story.

“It was quite the experience, quite the shock,” Berg admitted. “Just playing against Zach every day wasn’t the best thing for my mental state. You put yourself to such a high standard when you’re a high-level athlete, and you expect to keep a standard and when you’re dying because you have to battle him on defense every single time and you rarely can make it down to the end of the floor when it’s your turn to touch the ball, it kind of messes with you a little bit.”

But Berg adjusted to Edey’s play and gained confidence throughout the year, even though the progress might have seemed slow at times. The coaching staff noticed how far Berg has come since last summer, recognizing his ability to play physically in the post and also showing improvement in his passing game.

And it wasn’t just Edey who served as a teacher. Kaufman-Renn did his best to bring Berg along.

“I feel like I’ve made a lot of progress physically but also basketball-wise just being able to learn from Zach,” said Berg, who represented Sweden on the U16 and U18 National Teams and competed in the U18 Nordic Championships. “See what he does, how he reacts to things. Not only Zach but Trey has also been amazing. His footwork and just being able to pick their brains. Both Trey and Zach have been huge mentors, and when I have questions, I can just ask them.” 

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It’s important for Berg to pick up where he left off once he’s cleared to resume full practice drills. The confidence he’s gained throughout the year, even after the rough start dealing with Edey, is an area Berg must build on going into the summer trip if he’s able to play.

Regardless, Berg will need to find that confidence level when official workouts begin for the 2023-24 season. And his role for the upcoming season isn’t clear until Edey decides if he’s staying in the NBA Draft or returning to Purdue.

“I think that it’s hard to maintain that confidence when you’re not playing and it goes down a little bit, but then at the same time I know I’m still the same player I was before the injury,” Berg said. “Hopefully, I’ll be better, but of course, I’m going to be rusty in the beginning. I know that as soon as I get back into it, I should be back on my feet pretty fast.”