The Philadelphia 76ers are preparing to take on the Denver Nuggets this afternoon. Prior to Saturday’s game, the 76ers put out a lineup, and it was…something.

The lineup features an odd cast of characters, hardly any who you would normally see the Philadelphia starting lineup. But due to the team’s COVID-19 issues, the 76ers have had to shuffle things around, including putting one former Purdue Boilermaker in the starting five.

Not exactly the Ben Simmons-Joel Embiid lineup we have become accustomed to over the past few years.

Amongst those five is Dakota Mathias, who played his college ball at Purdue. Saturday marks his first career start in the NBA.

Mathias is the lone starter in this rag-tag group to play in the Big Ten. He’s currently signed with the 76ers on a two-way contract.

The Lima, Ohio, native spent four years at Purdue, making the conference’s Defensive Team as a junior and senior. In 2018, Mathias moved on and entered the NBA Draft.

After going undrafted in 2018, Mathias began his professional career. So far it’s taken him to Cleveland, Spain, Dallas, Oklahoma City and now Philadelphia. He signed with the 76ers on Dec. 3.