Brian Cardinal

By Allyson Turner

Thanks to his competitive fire on the court, Purdue's Brian Cardinal has been compared to such players as Dennis Rodman and Bill Laimbeer. The 6-foot-8, 230-pound forward's hustle and enthusiasm infuriates opponents. Named Boilermakers captain by coach Gene Keady midway through this season, Cardinal leads the team in rebounds and assists.

Cardinal's on-court style was evident early in his college career. He won Purdue's Ray Eddy Mr. Hustle Award and the Courage Award (for taking the most charges) as a freshman and a sophomore. As a senior at Unity High in Illinois, Cardinal averaged 25 points and 12 rebounds and was ranked as one of the country's top 100 high school seniors. Cardinal credits his father, who's the trainer for the Illinois men's team, for teaching him the most about basketball.

Despite finishing sixth in the Big Ten this season, Purdue reached the NCAA Tournament for the seventh consecutive year and earned a spot in the Sweet 16 for the second year in a row. The Boilermakers, who knocked off seventh-seeded Texas and No. 2 seed Miami last week, will play John Chaney's Temple Owls in the East Regional semifinals at the Meadowlands Arena on Friday.

 

Brian Cardinal scored a game career-high 33 points in the Big Ten Tournament. (Allsport)

When your team beat Miami in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, was Purdue making a statement to the country?
We were trying to. We really didn't have much to lose. We were a No. 10 seed going in and we were just excited to be in the tournament. That's the perspective that we had and I think that's the perspective we need to continue our success.

How far can this team go?
Who knows. We've been so up and down all year, it's really hard to say how far we can go or how good we are because who knows what team is gonna show up. We're real excited, and hopefully we can go out there and play a great game against Temple.

What do you think of your next opponent, Temple?
Temple's a great team and that's the way we're looking at it. They had to be a great team or they wouldn't have beaten Cincinnati. We are just gonna go out there and play hard and do what we have to do. Hopefully, the best will work out and we can keep it rolling.

With Ohio State, Michigan State, Iowa and Purdue all in the Sweet 16, what does this say about the Big Ten?
I think it shows that it's a really tough conference. We had seven teams get in the tournament. I know each Big Ten school that got in wanted the other team to win and do well. The Big Ten was awfully tough this year, and getting four teams in the Sweet 16 really shows that.

As the team's captain, what do you say or do to pump up the team?
Coach Keady always says the beginning of the NCAA Tournament is a new season and that's the way we are looking at it. It's a new season and we're undefeated. We're just gonna go out there, play hard and play Purdue basketball.

What's it like to play for Gene Keady?
It's great. He's a great a man. He's an excellent coach, a great motivator and is really someone that I definitely look up to and a lot of teammates do, as well.

What have you learned from him?
A lot of it is about competiveness. He's taught us all a lot about being competitive and being hard workers. And nothing is really given to you. You have to work for it, and the harder you work, the more rewards that you'll reap from it.

Your dad works in the athletic department at Illinois, why did you choose Purdue?
I thought about going to Illinois but things didn't work out. Once Purdue came along, I instantly fell in love with the campus, Coach Keady and Purdue basketball. I just wanted to be a part of it.

Who had the most influence on your game?
My father. He taught me everything. He not only taught me about basketball but he taught me how to be a man and how to be a person on my own. I remember days when I was in a high school game and when I got home, he'd already have written on three pieces of paper, everything that happened in the game. He'd give a paragraph, if that long, on what I did well and two-and-half pages of what I needed to work on, what I could do better and if I wanted to be successful what I could do. He always sends me insipirational quotes and even now, he sends emails. He's a very good man and he's really helped me. He's really made me who I am, not only on the basketball court but off the court. as well.

You've been compared to Dennis Rodman, do you see any similarities?
Well, I don't have the tatoos. I just go out there and play hard. Dennis Rodman is a great player, a great athlete who does so much for the game of basketball. I just try to play hard and I think that's why they compare us.

Is there any player you'd like to be compared to?
Being around Illinois basketball with my father being there for so long, I saw a lot of great players like Kenny Battle, Nick Anderson, Kendell Gill and all those guys that went through there. I watched them play and how hard they worked and how important it was to them. I want to keep that going. When I saw them win and play hard, the excitement it brought them, I saw the look in their eyes and what it meant to them and that's really what I want. I want that same look, the same intensity and the same desire that they had.

Why do you wear No. 35?
When I got to Purdue, I wanted to wear No. 25 because that was Nick Anderson's number and I was huge fan of his. But it was taken, so I figured I'd try to make No. 35 famous.

Who would you most like to dunk on?
Patrick Ewing.

Winning the team's Ray Eddy Mr. Hustle Award and the Courage Award, how much did they mean to you?
One of my goals coming to Purdue was that I wanted to be known as hard worker. I wanted people to say, 'Man, he was a hard worker.' I wanted to win the Hustle Award four years in a row. It wasn't about the MVP or that stuff, I wanted to win the Hustle Award.

What is one word or phrase that best describes your personality?
Easy to get along with. I enjoy life and just let life flow.

What's your pet peeve?
I hate girls that say 'I'm so fat' and they are the skinniest in the world.

What would you say to someone who was thinking about going directly to the pros about your college experience?
It's unbelievable. Growing up in high school, I had a real good friend who was my junior varsity coach. He would always say that I would meet my best friends in college and I would have the best time in college. Everything he said is so true. I've met the best friends of my life in college and I've had the greatest times in college. I've been a part of so much, I can't even imagine not going to college. Money is a killer and it's too bad that people put so much emphasis on it. That's what a lot of people look at. They don't look at what they're missing, they just look at what they could get.

Was there a time in college that was not so good?
When I first got here I played in my first open gym game ever. It was over the summer and camp had just gotten out and there's was a lot of little kids surrounding the court. I got picked up on a team and the first time I was out there, I shot an air ball. I throw a pass away and then they came down and Matt Wadell shot a jumper on me and won the game. I picked up my stuff, had tears in my eyes, went home and cried in my bed. I came from a town of 2,400 people, a little town and not knowing what to expect and being a little niave about everything and there I was at Purdue, a huge University, a big time basketball program and I wandered, 'What am I doing here? Why did I come here?' That was the worst time. It all worked out though and I love it now. I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Before a game, what do you always do?
I always think of me making a bunch of baskets. Me zoning back in the day, when I would just shoot the lights out and make a bunch of 3-pointers. Or I think about some really good moments in basketball. I try to get focused and hope that I could do well and replay that again.

For each of the following sports figures, what is the first word that comes to mind?