William Berg: Purdue鈥檚 7-foot-2 Swedish giant
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (BVM) 鈥� This fall, William Berg will become the fifth 7-footer to play for the Purdue Boilermakers over the last six years. The other four are AJ Hammons, Matt Haarms, Isaac Haas and current Boilermaker, 7-foot-4 Zach Edey.听
In fact, it was that history of having big men that led the 7-foot-2 Berg to commit to Purdue over other programs that were recruiting him.听
鈥淧urdue is the 鈥楤ig Man U!鈥欌�� . 鈥淭hey鈥檝e got the necessary experience at developing great big men and they use them a lot, as well. They have what I need to succeed both on the court as well as off the court.鈥�
The Swedish big man, also known as the ‘Swedish Giant’ was right when he said Purdue uses its height a lot. Last season, the Boilermakers used Edey and 6-foot-10 senior Trevion Williams often but rarely together.听聽
Berg committed to Purdue back in December. The center from Stockholm, Sweden was being recruited by fellow Big Ten school Illinois, who was trying to replace its own 7-footer Kofi Cockburn, as well as Iona, and Utah State.听
Excited to be a boilermaker!
— William Berg (@Wille_Berg)
In his announcement via Twitter, the Swedish giant said that playing college basketball has always been a dream of his. It is a dream come true for Berg and possibly a huge pick up for Boilermaker head coach Matt Painter, who is developing a reputation for going after the biggest of the bigs.
“We’re excited to add Will to our 2022 signing class,” . “Will has really developed the last couple years and can play facing the basket and with his back to the basket. He has put a lot of work into his game and his best basketball is ahead of him. He has a bright future at Purdue.”
Highlights from 鈥檚 last game.
鉁�: Run the floor.
鉁�: Hit the 3.
鉁�: Outlet pass.
鉁�: Catch ball in traffic.
— Purdue Men's Basketball (@BoilerBall)
Berg has been developing well in Sweden, playing in the U18 Nordic Championships and for the Swedish U16 and U18 National Teams. He possesses good ball handling skills for a 7-foot-2 big man and shooting range from well outside the paint. Berg also has power to go with his height, even breaking a backboard during a training session on Christmas day.
Played some today and accidentally dunked to hard on ! Merry Christmas!馃巺馃徎
— William Berg (@Wille_Berg)
Although it may not happen a lot this season, there is a chance that Purdue basketball rolls out lineups that feature both 7-foot-2 Berg and 7-foot-4 Edey. 滨迟鈥檚 a terrifying thought for other Big Ten teams and a big man combination that could only be rivaled by the NBA鈥檚 Kristaps Porzingis (7-foot-3), Boban Marjanovi膰 (7-foot-4) and Tacko Fall (7-foot-6).听
Berg鈥檚 commitment to Purdue also adds another Swedish player to Division I basketball, a list that is small but growing.
鈥淭he amount of Swedish kids going to play college basketball is increasing but still not a lot,鈥� Berg said to Pro Insight. 鈥淪o I鈥檓 extremely thankful that all the work that I鈥檝e put in is being noticed.鈥�
The list now includes three players from the Class of 2022: Berg, Eastern Washington‘s Sebastian Andersson and four-star Wake Forest commit Bobi Klintman. They will join Arizona鈥檚 Pelle Larsson, a former teammate of Berg鈥檚, as Swedish DI basketball players.听
