Jack Benter was eating dinner when Purdue basketball head coach Matt Painter gave him a call on June 27.

The two exchanged pleasantries, and then Painter told the Brownstown junior that the Boilermakers were giving him an offer.

Benter said he was really excited about the offer, and fast forward three weeks later, the night of July 14, Benter made it official.

He took to social media to officially announce that he would be committing to play basketball at Purdue University.

“It’s been crazy,” Benter said. “It’s been really exciting. I’ve gotten a lot of texts and everyone is super happy.”

Benter had other offers, such as Indiana State, Liberty and Bellarmine, but once he got one from Purdue, he didn’t feel the need to wait much longer.

“I was gonna wait a little bit longer but I felt Purdue was the best fit, and I didn’t want to lead any other schools on,” he said.

Painter and Purdue assistant coach Paul Lusk pursued Benter a lot this summer, coming to his AAU games with Grand Park Premier.

“Purdue started showing a lot of interest,” Benter said. “Painter came to like five or six games of mine this summer. I went down there last winter for a game and for a practice, and I just feel like that was the best fit for me with their culture and coaching staff and style of play.”

The game Benter went to was on Jan. 30 when the Boilermakers played No. 16-ranked Ohio State in Mackey Arena, and Jaden Ivey hit a buzzer-beater 3-pointer to beat the Buckeyes 81-78. Ivey was just drafted fifth overall in the NBA Draft to the Detroit Pistons.

It was a fun experience for Benter, who is looking forward to being out on that floor in 2024.

“They run their shooters off screens a lot, they play inside-out a lot, and they just move the ball really good,” Benter said of the Boilers.

Staying in the state of Indiana wasn’t something Benter necessarily focused on early in his recruiting, but he’s happy that he gets the opportunity to play DI in-state.

“At first, I really didn’t care, but once I got the Purdue offer that meant a lot,” he said. “I was really excited I could stay close to home and be closer to my family.”

By the time Benter gets to West Lafayette, there will be two Mid-Southern Conference players on the black and gold roster. Silver Creek’s Trey Kaufman-Renn will be a redshirt freshman for Purdue this season.

Benter remembers playing against Kaufman-Renn in high school, and they both worked out with the same trainer in Floyd Knobs before as well.

Right now, Benter has two weeks remaining in his AAU season. He has a tournament this weekend and then will be playing in the UA finals next week.

He’s also been able to play with Brownstown’s team a couple times. The Braves played in some summer games at Assembly Hall and Mackey Arena.

“We’ve played really well this summer,” Benter said.

The Brownstown junior is fresh off a sophomore campaign where he averaged 26.9 points per game, which is a school record, and he also led his team in rebounds with 159 and assists with 100.

Benter scored 700 points in total last season, which set the record for most points in a season by a Brave. He already eclipsed 1,000 points in his BCHS career.

In a game against Orleans, Benter tied the record for most free throws in a game with 17, and against Austin, he set the record with most made 3-pointers in a game with 11. He ended with 41 points that night.

This summer Benter said he worked out a lot in early June and got quicker and stronger. He’s planning to get back to that weight room routine after his AAU slate wraps up.

“I want to get better at ball-handling and just get my speed and strength up so I can play the whole game without coming out,” he said.

Benter is happy he can just focus on himself now and not have to worry about being recruited. He plans to take an official visit to Purdue in the fall and go up to West Lafayette to see games over the next two years.

This has been a goal Benter has been working toward all his life, and even though he still has two more years until he’s officially on the Boilermaker roster, he couldn’t be happier with his decision.

“Ever since I was little, I always watched college basketball, and I’ve always had a ball in my hands since I could walk, so that’s always been a dream of mine to play college basketball,” Benter said.