Matt Paininter has led Purdue to two of the last three Big Ten Regular-Season Championships, made 10 consecutive NCAA tournaments, including six of the last eight Sweet 16S, and, every way you cut it, has generally increased his program to top status in sport in sport.
Is the best for Painter’s boiler makers?
It is impossible to answer that question in August to some degree of certainty – but there are plenty of reasons to believe that it is possible, even with the bar that is so high, especially because each of the top four scorers of last season that ended 15th ended up on Evanmiya.com. One of them is the All-American Guard Braden Smith, the ruling Big Ten player of the year. Another of them is the All-American attacker Trey Kaufman-Renn, the leading recurring scorer of the boiler makers. (Yes, Purdue has all-Americans in both the defense half and the forefront.) Combine that excellent core with fellow veterans Fletcher Loyer and CJ Cox, Plus newcomers Oscar Cluff and Omer Mayer, and the boiler maker must be considered the favorites in the Big Ten and among the realistic candidates to cut nets in Indianapolis on the first Monday evening in April.
And wouldn’t that be something?
If things break in a certain way, come in April, we could watch Painter, a 54-year-old future Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame coach from Indiana, at a national championship in a stadium in a 70-minute ride of both where he went to high school. Also worth mentioning: three from Purdue’s Starters-Smith, Loyer and Kaufman-Renn-Renn-Renn also Indiana residents, which could really provide a special scene in Lucas Oil Stadium.
With the players’ movement of College Basketball, except that this is done outside the season, it is time to split the grilles of the top programs of the sport. For this episode we look at Purdue and try to decipher what things can look like when the season starts in November.
The gamble favorite to win it all in 2025-2026? The purdue boiler makers. Coach Matt Paininter sits down with Gary Parrish to discuss how the low season has disappeared, which makes Smith so special and more!
Projected Starting Line -Up
1. Broaden Smith | 6-0 | 170 | Sr.
Smith was a consensus first team All-American last season after an average of 15.8 points, 8.7 assists and 4.5 rebounds while shooting 42.8% out of the field and 38.1% from 3-point range. He was the Big Ten player of the year – and also won the Bob Cousy Award, which was given annually at the top watch of the sport. Smith will enter his last year with 758 assists in his career, making it 318 behind the former Duke Great Bobby Hurley, the leader of all time at Division I level. If Smith Records helps in the speed with which he recorded them last season, he could break the Hurley record during the NCAA tournament of 2026.
2. Omer Mayer | 6-4 | 215 | Fr.
Mayer is the Wildcard on the Roster after an average of 20.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2.0 Steals at the FBA U19 World Cup in Switzerland, which led to an invitation for the Chris Paul Elite Guard Camp from last weekend in Las Vegas. Simply put, we already know that Purdue will have two of the best seniors of the sport in Smith and Kaufman Renn. If the boiler makers also have one of the best first -year students of the sport in Mayer, they can spend the national rankings on top of the national rankings this season.
3. Fletcher Rent | 6-5 | 180 | Sr.
Loyer started with all 110 games that the boiler makers have played since he registered with Purdue, making him one of the most reliable and experienced players in the country. He on average 13.8 points and 2.1 rebounds last season while he shot 45.6% and 44.4% from 3-point range. Each of those figures represented a career high. Lower is also an 83.6% free throw shooter for his career.
4. Trey Kaufman-Renn | 6-9 | 230 | Sr.
After having spent two years in a limited role due to the presence of Edey, Kaufman-Renn broke through last season and CBS Sports EXTRACTED Team All-America Honors by gaining an average of 20.1 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.2 assists per match while shot 59.5%. Those figures made the only division I player last season, and only the third in the Big Ten history, up to an average of at least 20 points, six rebounds and two assists while he shot at least 59%.
5. Oscar Cluff | 6-11 | 260 | Sr.
Cluff is the best incoming transfer at Purdue after an average of 17.6 points and 12.3 rebounds in 30 games last season in South Dakota State. Will that production translate into the Big ten? It is a reasonable question to ask. Anyway, between Kaufman-Renn and Cluff the boiler makers have to start two bigs that combined to an average of 37.7 points and 18.8 rebounds at the I level division last season. That is undoubtedly strong.
Banking
To be clear, the projected starting setup above is nothing more than that – a projection. It seems clear that Smith, Loyer and Kaufman-Renn will start but the other half of the defense And The other front court is possible for picking up, even if I lean to Mayer and Cluff who eventually establishes in those roles. Anyway, here is the point: regardless of how Painter and his staff decide to start with, Purdue will have fun players in reserve roles, who only have to strengthen the ambitions of National Championship.
Here is a look at the top reserves of Purdue (presumably):
CJ Cox | 6-3 | 200 | Soph.
Cox started 23 times and an average of 6.0 points and 2.8 rebounds as an average of 39.8% of 3-point range. It was really a nice freshmen for a player who had zero high major offers before he flew in Purdue in October 2004. Whether Cox starts again or comes from the bank, he will be one of the most important players for what one of the best teams of college basketball should be.
Daniel Jacobsen | 7-4 | 230 | Soph.
Jacobsen only appeared in two games last season before a broken leg sidelined him for the rest of the season. He is now completely healthy and 25 pounds heavier after helping the American basketball to win a gold medal at the FIBA U19 World Cup in Switzerland. Jacobssen on average 6.6 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.9 blocks while he shot 60.6% out of the field in that event.
Gicarri Harris | 6-3 | 200 | Soph.
Harris appeared in 36 games last season, started four times and an average of 3.8 points and 1.9 rebounds in 15.0 minutes per game. He took 27 free throws in the season and made 25 of them. No other first -year student in the country who used so much made that high point of a percentage (92.6).
Liam Murphy | 6-7 | 225 | Sr.
Murphy had an average of 13.0 points and 3.3 rebounds in Noord -Florida last season after playing the previous two years in Columbia. He shot 42.3% from 3-point range at 7.7 attempts per match, which suggests that the New York resident will be able to offer the bank distance from the bank.
Fill the schedule
The remaining selection of Purdue contains seven players, of whom only one (Raleigh Burgess) appeared in more than six games for the boiler makers last season. Here are those names:
Market watch
Purdue’s Odds to win 2026 NCAA Tournament (via Fanduel): +900
Purdue is now the favorite in the gambling markets to win the NCAA tournament 2026 in a development that at least partly partly connected to the rise of Mayer, which was great on an international stage this summer. He could be the elite first -year/legitimate NBA Prospect teams often have to win six games in the NCAA tournament. And if I am honest, I wonder if I wonder if I should reconsider the top 25 and 1 – because no. 4 might be too low for the boiler makers if Mayer is really as good as he seems to be able.
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