DETROIT (WISH) — There have been many great Purdue University men’s basketball players throughout history.

And on Sunday, you knew all of them were rooting for their Boilers to advance to the Final Four.

That’s exactly what the 2023-24 Purdue Boilermakers were able to do as they punched their tickets to the 2024 Final Four in Phoenix, Az. by beating Tennessee 72-66 in the Elite 8.

One of those former players who witnessed the victory in person was Robbie Hummel. He was on the Westwood One Sports radio broadcast of the matchup.

“These dudes deserve this man,” Hummel told News 8 Sports’ Andrew Chernoff. “They have been through so much. You see what happened after the FDU (Fairleigh Dickinson University) game (last year), but they competed at the highest level every time I saw them. And I did 22 games, so I saw them plenty.”

The star of the game on Sunday was Purdue senior center Zach Edey, who scored a career-high 40 points and hauled in 16 rebounds in the win.

“That was an iconic performance from Zach Edey,” Hummel said. “To go to the Final Four and have 40 (points) and 16 (rebounds), he’s a special player. Everybody thinks that, but that was unbelievable.”

You could see the emotion on Hummel’s face as the game ended on Sunday.

“I care about this school,” Hummel said. “I care about Coach (Matt) Painter. I care about all of the assistants. You put so much time in to a place, and I love Purdue University. It’s a special place. We’ve got a special group of fans.”

Hummel played under Matt Painter from 2007-12 at Purdue. He averaged 14 points per game, along with 6.8 rebounds per game during his college basketball career.

He was selected in the second round of the 2012 NBA Draft.

Click on the video above to watch Chernoff’s full conversation with Hummel.