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Purdue basketball's overseas reach continues with Italian big man's visit
Purdue men's basketball's longstanding reputation for developing big men regularly puts it in contention for the best 7-footers in the country.
That appeal has now begun to cross oceans. Italian 7-foot-3 center Luigi Suigo is on campus for an official visit until mid-day Tuesday.
Suigo is reportedly double-dipping on this trip, heading to Indiana for another Big Ten look this week. His first official visit back in February also occurred within the conference — at Illinois, another program loading up on European talent recently.
Purdue already made one addition from overseas in 2025. Omer Mayer is scheduled to arrive later this summer from Israel, adding a second guard to the incoming freshman class.
Suigo turned 18 in January. He's a Class of 2026 prospect, meaning he is a contender to succeed Trey Kaufman-Renn and transfer Oscar Cluff in the post.
Purdue, of course, knows all about foreign big men — though not on such direct flights. Matt Haarms of The Netherlands made a stopover at Sunrise Christian in Kansas before coming to West Lafayette. Zach Edey left Toronto for IMG Academy in Florida prior to joining the Boilermakers.
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What remains to be seen is whether pursuit of players such as Mayer and Suigo becomes a consistent part of Matt Painter's recruiting strategy.
It may be too early to call this a trend, but NBA teams have begun taking foreign 7-footers more frequently at the top of the draft. France's Victor Wembanyama went No. 1 overall in 2023. His countryman, Alex Sarr, went No. 2 overall last year.
Both of them came through pro leagues, rather than the American prep system. Suigo averages 9.1 points, 7.4 rebounds and 2.1 blocks in seven games in Italy's lower pro division.
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Suigo's game resembles that of redshirt freshman Daniel Jacobsen more than Edey. Perhaps he'll share a frontcourt with Jacobsen going into 2026.
Jacobsen made the first cut at the Team USA training camp for the FIBA Under-19 World Cup team. He is now among 18 contenders to make the trip to Switzerland for that tournament later this month.
Jacobsen was one of 31 players invited to the camp. The final roster will be trimmed to 12 players.
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As of Monday afternoon, Cluff continued to await receipt of his renewed visa. Once it renews, he'll board a plane in Australia and head for West Lafayette.
Mayer was also supposed to play with Team Israel at that FIBA U19 World Cup. However, there were reports Monday that Israel may be dropping out of the event.
The recent escalation of hostilities with Iran has complicated travel and other issues. Israel's Premier League concluded its season with one game remaining in a best-of-three series between Hapoel Jerusalem and Maccabi Tel-Aviv — the same club for which Mayer and former Boilermaker Trevion Williams play in the EuroLeague. Safety concerns were cited as the reason.
As of last week, Mayer was also working on visa issues before he could join Purdue.
