Okay, it’s time I spoke up on this topic. If you’ve read my posts in the past then you are well aware I am a Purdue grad and an avid Purdue basketball fan. I always do my best to write with an unbiased eye but there is no denying that my Purdue fandom impacts my view on college basketball. With that said though, I feel very comfortable in saying Caleb Swanigan is no doubt deserving of the NPOY award this season. Some of you may be rolling your eyes at this point thinking “of course a Purdue fan would say that” but hear me out, there’s good reason for this. I’ve got a few selling points that are hard to beat.

Records are being broken

Simply put, Caleb Swanigan is accomplishing things this season that have either never been done before or very few can claim to have done. Just look at his 20 point – 20 rebound games that he has had this season. He has had FOUR of those this season. To put that into perspective, his 4 20-20 games doubles the amount of Big Ten players that have done it in the past 20 years. In fact he is one of only 3 players (Oklahoma’s Blake Griffin and Hofstra’s Rokas Gustys) in the past two decades to have consecutive 20-20 games. These stats are darn near video game level. Not to mention that Swanigan also had a 20-20-5 game which puts him in company with Blake Griffin and Ben Simmons as the only three players to have done so in the past decade.

Not only is he putting up ridiculous stats, he is also sitting with superstar company while doing so. If he finishes the season at 18 points, 13 rebounds, and 2 assists or higher then he will have been one of three people in the last 23 years to do so. The other two to have done so are named Tim Duncan and Blake Griffin. His current stat-line is sitting at 19.1/12.8/2.8 so that is certainly within grasp.

That’s not where it stops though, he is within the record for double-doubles in a season. He currently has 20 and the record is 31 held by David Robinson. Swanigan has 7 more regular season games left, the potential of 3 Big Ten tourney games, and then as many NCAA tourney games as the Boilermakers can play in. 11 more double-doubles is a real possibility at the rate he is going.

He is also accomplishing things at record rate within the conference and at Purdue. He holds the record for most double-doubles at Purdue which was formerly held by the Big Dog, Glenn Robinson at 19 double-doubles. Swanigan has 20. Swanigan also now has 5 Big Ten Player of the Week awards which is tied for second most in Big Ten history with Glenn Robinson and 2 behind the record held by Evan Turner. Caleb is also currently sitting at 306 total rebounds which is closing in on the Purdue single season total rebound of 352 held by Joe Barry Carroll.

All of this and the guy is shooting 50% from the 3-point line. He is standing out in the crowd and that includes historically speaking.

He is doing it at a school that isn’t historically a Blue-Blood

In fairness, Purdue is a good basketball school. It has won a lot of conference championships, has had many good years, has a strong fanbase, a great homecourt, and lots of support for its program. The issue is that it has always been known as a good but not great program, the type of program that will have consistently good teams within the Big Ten but just never really makes the serious splash on the national scene or at least when they do it doesn’t last long. Purdue has never been the type of school to regularly bring in 5-star recruits, in fact, Swanigan was the first 5-star since Glenn Robinson in 1992. Swanigan was not the typical player Purdue gets to sign.

I’m sure you are wondering what I am getting at here, which is simple, he is achieving this massive amount of success where it usually isn’t done. One of the bigger arguments against him is that he isn’t winning like some of the other candidates like Josh Hart or Frank Mason. Yes, Purdue has had some inexcusable and downright silly losses that have kept them from the top 10, but they are still a top 20 team. And the other two noted play for more traditional Blue-Blood schools in Villanova and Kansas. These schools produce these types of stars left and right each year. It is surely impressive still, but Swanigan is changing the culture at Purdue. He is showing that Purdue can develop bigs at Purdue, he is showing that a 5-star can go to Purdue and succeed.

Why does this matter you say? It matters because we know Kansas can do that, we know Villanova can do that, but Purdue? Purdue doesn’t have players like Caleb Swanigan. Purdue is the type of team that finds success by having a collective group of good players who play well together. Not a do-it-all star that breaks records left and right. Caleb Swanigan is trying to flip that script and I think it is working.

His Story

I’m not going to get too in depth with this. It has been covered many times over this season and if you’ve ever watched a Purdue game this season then I’m sure you’ve heard his story. However, I think it is worth noting here. The guy has transformed himself from a 6’2 300 pound homeless 8th grader to a 6’9 245 pound 1st team All-American and NPOY candidate. It really is a remarkable story.

What does this have to do with his NPOY candidacy? Honestly, I don’t think it should be factored in too much when the voting happens because the other players in the running can’t help they didn’t come from such a rough background. However, often times a story really makes a candidate stand out to the voters. Everybody loves a rag-to-riches story and Swanigan has a truly amazing one. I think this is something that will make Caleb stand out because people will look at his incredible numbers and then realize how far he has come in the past 6 years and it will be hard not to root for the guy.

I don’t think this will be a deciding factor, but it is important to highlight as it molded Biggie into the player he is today.

In Conclusion

I believe when you look at the body of work that Swanigan has put in this season the results are overwhelming. He is putting up numbers that have hardly been seen in the modern game and he is doing so by leading a school that doesn’t normally get the spotlight. And this isn’t to say that guys like Josh Hart and Frank Mason aren’t deserving of the award, but the fact of the matter is that Swanigan is doing things that are near unprecedented. His play stands out as something that doesn’t come around very often, which I personally think should be immortalized as a NPOY.

Stats provided by: CBS Sports, Sports-Reference, and Chris Forman (Purdue Athletics)