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The Butterfly Effect for Purdue Basketball: Getting JaJuan Johnson

On3 imageby:Brian Neubert•06/12/25•

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Purdue's JaJuan Johnson
Purdue's JaJuan Johnson (Mark J. Rebilas/USA Today Sports)

“The Butterfly Effect” is a limited-run series that Gold and Black Express is rolling out this summer, highlighting events that occurred or decisions made that rippled out and helped Purdue reach its current level, as exemplified by last season’s Final Four and leading into this much-anticipated upcoming season.

An example of the Butterfly Effect in this context: Roy Williams leaving Kansas for North Carolina, thus pulling Bill Self from Illinois to Kansas, leading to Bruce Weber getting the Illinois job, and Matt Painter being promoted at Southern Illinois, all just as Purdue’s post-Gene Keady plans had to be made.

Prior Butterfly Effect installments: Carl Landry and David Teague getting hurt

PART 2: LANDING JAJUAN JOHNSON

Part of appeal to Purdue of the coach-in-waiting deal Matt Painter agreed to — and Purdue was very fortunate that the right guy was there at the right time, willing to sign up for such an arrangement — was that the new coach would have a whole year to recruit, unburdened by limitations on what head coaches could do in recruiting back then and untethered from practice every day and game prep. He was involved, but also free to focus on the future more than the present.

Painter smartly didn’t waste his time back then recruiting Greg Oden, Mike Conley or Eric Gordon. Purdue was in such rough shape competitively then, those all would have missions impossible. He did push for eventual Marquette star Dominic James, but otherwise dedicated his time and effort to underclassmen.

It started with JaJuan Johnson and E’Twaun Moore.

Johnson was raw as can be in high school, not the sort of player who’d come in and change Purdue much immediately, but he was Painter’s and Cuonzo Martin’s absolute priority in the Indianapolis area from the jump.

Johnson was the first member of Purdue’s landmark 2007 class to commit, and probably knew before making his decision public.

Landing Johnson gave Purdue real credibility, and it was not insignificant that at this time, Indiana was about to crater in the aftermath of Kelvin Sampson’s NCAA problems.

At that point, Johnson didn’t really know Moore or Robbie Hummel all that well, but his commitment did provide a bit of a bump with the Region contingent, each of them winding up at Purdue and bringing fellow blue-chipper Scott Martin with them, though he only lasted a year.

Would Purdue have gotten Moore and Hummel, who emerged later than his eventual classmates, had Johnson not popped first? Maybe. Probably. But Johnson got the ball rolling and the rest was history. Hummel and Moore were stars from Day 1 at Purdue, building on that first NCAA trip in ’06-07, then once Johnson hit his stride, he started Purdue’s on-going lineage of elite big men.

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