Purdue women's basketball report: Summer workouts to start, Jordyn Poole update and more

The Boilermakers feature 14 players on the roster for the 2024-25 season

As we start the week, a few items of interest:

• Returning players and newcomers are on campus as summer school begins Monday. That means summer workouts are on the agenda for the Boilermakers as the unofficial start to the season. Coach Katie Gearlds conducted a team meeting Sunday night and everyone was there. Coaches are limited in the number of hours they can work with their team but with eight newcomers - including seven who were not with the program last season - every minute counts. Purdue will benefit later this summer when it’s allowed 10 extra practices ahead of the overseas trip to Spain and Portugal in August. The Boilermakers will play three games on the trip.

Dave Wegiel Photography

• Freshman Jordyn Poole was enjoying a solid week as a member of the Indiana All-Stars. The Fort Wayne Snider graduate shined in the exhibition game against the Indiana Junior All-Stars, nearly recording a triple-double (16 points, 11 rebounds, and eight assists). Poole totaled 19 points and six assists in Friday’s win over Kentucky. However, Poole didn’t play in Saturday’s game at Indianapolis after suffering an injury to her face/head. The All-Stars medical team decided to hold her out of the game. Without Poole, Indiana edged Kentucky 66-64 to sweep the annual summer series for the first time since 2016. What’s important now is Poole is healthy for the Boilermakers, and all signs point to that being the case. Poole likely starts the summer as the backup point guard to Amiyah Reynolds, who redshirted last season after suffering a foot injury in high school. Reynolds, though, practiced with the team during the last two months of the season. Poole has a chance to earn significant minutes this season and gives the Boilermakers some much-needed quickness, ballhandling, toughness on the perimeter, and a scoring punch.

• The opportunity for Purdue’s coaching staff to watch future prospects in person ramps up this week in Indiana. The IBCA/IHSAA Underclass Showcase is Thursday at Ben Davis, with around 130 players expected to participate from the 2025, 2026 and 2027 classes. On Friday and Saturday, the IBCA/IHSAA Team Showcase event will be held at Hamilton Southeastern and Mt. Vernon (Fortville). Gearlds and assistant coach Mark Stephens are expected at both events.

Contract extension, salary increase for Purdue's Katie Gearlds “We didn’t want her to have any doubts about where we stand"

• Two noteworthy items about Jane and Tom Schott, both of whom have ties to the women’s basketball program:

Jane (Calhoun) Schott, who played for the Boilermakers (1987-91) and currently serves as an analyst on the team’s radio broadcasts, has been named an Assistant Commissioner at the IHSAA. Schott coached girls basketball and held the title of assistant athletic director at West Lafayette. Schott won 307 games, including 239 with the Red Devils, during her career. She’ll administer the sports of girls soccer, boys soccer, girls
basketball, girls track & field, and boys track & field at the IHSAA.

Tom Schott will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award on Monday in Las Vegas from the College Sports Communicators. Schott worked in the Purdue athletic communications office from 1990-2019, including holding the title of senior associate athletic director for strategic communications. Schott was the primary media contact for the women’s basketball program for several years He joined the university’s marketing and communications office in 2020. He serves as director of executive communications.