Cassidy Hardin Returns

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The splash is back.
 
Purdue women's basketball senior guard Cassidy Hardin will use her COVID-19 year and return to Purdue for one last season in 2022-23.
 
"My time as a collegiate athlete is limited and if I had the opportunity to play another year, I feel like I would regret it down the line if I didn't take it," Hardin said.
 
Hardin faced a difficult decision when the season ended in the second round of the WNIT - hang up the shoes for good and begin medical school, pursuing the same career path as her father, Greg, or return for the second year of the Katie Gearlds era to help the program take the next step forward. 
 
After carefully weighing the options, Hardin knew she wanted one last season in the old gold and black.
 
"My plan has always been medical school, but then just seeing what Coach Gearlds was doing with the team and the season and the changes she was trying to make amongst our program, I just really believed in what she was doing," Hardin said. 
 
In her first year as head coach, Katie Gearlds guided Purdue to 17 wins in the 2021-22 season. The Boilermakers only won seven games the previous season. Gearlds 10-win improvement is the most by a first-year head coach and tied for the third best overall.
This year's team also broke the record for most 3-pointers made and 3-pointers attempted shattering the respective records from 2013-14 and 2018-19.
 
During the 2021-22 campaign, Hardin led the team in 3-pointers and minutes played. She knocked down 78 3-pointers, which climbed up to fourth in Purdue single-season history. After making just 24 outside shots as a rookie in 2018-19, Hardin became just the 10th player in program history to make a 40-plus 3-point improvement during her career, a list that includes Katie Douglas, Ukari Figgs and Katie Gearlds. 
 
Following a 2020-21 season in which she did not start any games, Hardin averaged a career-high 8.7 points and 2.5 rebounds over 31 minutes per night, while starting all but one contest. The senior also put together a 23-game 3-point streak, good for third longest in Purdue history. 
 
The 5-foot-10 senior cited her family as another contributing factor to her decision to return. Her brother, Cameron, graduated from Purdue with his bachelors in 2015 and masters in 2017 and one of her sisters, Carleigh, graduated last year. She felt that they definitely wanted her to stay, but her family left the decision up to her.
 
"Honestly, they were happy," Hardin said. "They weren't going to tell me they wanted me to stay, but they did."
 
Hardin grew up in Bargersville, just south of Indianapolis, and has family in Kokomo, so her family makes an effort to come to as many games as possible each season. 
 
Hardin has a 3.94 GPA in Honors Biochemistry and deferred her acceptance to medical school for a year to finish her time with the team. She was named Academic All-Big Ten honors on three occasions and has the opportunity to become the second Boilermaker in program history to garner the laurel four times in a career. She was recently tabbed Most Outstanding Senior by the College of Science in 2021.
 
Her father, Greg Hardin, followed a similar track. He is an orthopedic surgeon and watching him, as well as shadowing other doctors, helped Cassidy develop an interest in medicine. 
 
Despite the busy schedule, the Hardins have always made every effort to go to as many Purdue games as possible, home and away.
 
"They're really excited that they get to come and see games for another year and support our team," Hardin said.
 
The Boilermakers reached the second round of the WNIT this year, keeping a streak that every senior class since 1988 has appeared in the postseason, but one thing has remained elusive in Hardin's career - a bid to the NCAA Tournament. 
 
"Purdue belongs in March Madness," Hardin added. "There have been so many great players who have played here and raised banners winning a National Championship, Big Ten titles and NCAA Tournaments. With everything that Coach Gearlds is building, everyone who is returning and the newcomers, we are all in to make sure they call our name on Selection Sunday."
 
With that goal in mind, Hardin is ready to make a big splash with her final year in West Lafayette.