The Hoops Junkie

As a guy who went to both Valparaiso High School and Purdue, I’m pretty bummed about the news of Robbie Hummel’s ACL tear that will keep him out for the remainder of the season. The Boilers were playing great basketball, and Hummel is a guy that they couldn’t afford to lose. They have basically no depth at the 4 & 5 spots, so losing he or JaJuan Johnson was just something that couldn’t happen for them to still be a serious Final 4 contender. And Hummel was a guy who did a bit of everything for the Boilers, whether it was rebounding, hustle plays, knocking down 3’s, making a play off the dribble, or making a great pass. He has an outstanding feel for the game, he plays hard every second he’s on the court, and he’s a great teammate.

 
As the news of his injury started sinking in, I began to reflect back on Hummel as a player. The first time I saw him play was actually at a Valparaiso High School open gym the summer between his freshman and sophomore year of high school. One of my best friends was home for the summer from playing professional basketball overseas, and we decided to hit up the open gym at our former high school one afternoon for old time’s sake. I remember the turnout that day was much smaller than in the years when we used to play, and in general the games were pretty disappointing. There was one thing that stood out though, and it was a 6′5″ stringbean kid who was making 3’s, handling the ball like a point guard, and showing a very impressive feel for the game. I asked the assistant coach running the open gym what his name and story was, and I took a mental note. A few years later, I was living in Chicago, and I’d heard a lot of hype about how good the high school team was at Valpo, and that they had 2 stud players (Robbie Hummel and Scott Martin – now at Notre Dame but also sitting out with an ACL tear) who were going to be playing at Purdue the following year. I got a couple of my buddies to make the hour drive with me to check out a couple games, and we were really impressed. I actually found an old email I wrote to the rest of the guys from my high school crew on January 8, 2007 after catching a couple Valpo High games. Here’s what I wrote back then about Robbie Hummel and Scott Martin… continue reading »