Sports Illustrated
Matt Painter isn’t running from the incredibly high expectations that will be strapped to the Boilermakers this season.
National title or bust? That standard is applied to very, very few in college basketball, but with a pair of superstars back for their senior seasons and improved depth around them, it’s an all-in year in West Lafayette, Ind. Braden Smith has proven himself to be one of the best college point guards in a generation and has a chance to etch himself further into the record books this year as he chases Bobby Hurley’s all-time career assists record. He’s an elite pick-and-roll player who will be the engine of what KenPom projects to be the most efficient offense in college basketball this season. Fellow All-American Trey Kaufman-Renn exploded to average 20 points per game as a junior. He’s one of the most skilled frontcourt players in the country and should benefit from more help up front this season. Add in fellow 1,000-point scorer Fletcher Loyer, one of the best shooters in the country, and you have a veteran nucleus in place unlike any other in the sport. All three took discounts to return to Purdue and chase a championship. We’ll see if their loyalty is rewarded.
And not to be ignored amid the Boilermakers’ elite veteran experience is how much mileage Painter got out of his freshman class from a year ago. C.J. Cox and Gicarri Harris gave Purdue great minutes last season, while Daniel Jacobsen was in line to be the Boilermakers’ starting center before breaking his leg early in their second game of the season. Cox and Harris are valuable role players with their ability to defend and in particular Cox’s shotmaking spurt-ability, and both have room to continue to emerge.
At its core though, Purdue needs its newcomers (and Jacobsen, who’s functionally a new face) to help elevate it from a very good but flawed team a season ago to a national title favorite.
Projected Starting Lineup
PG: Braden Smith
SG: C.J. Cox
SF: Fletcher Loyer
PF: Trey Kaufman-Renn
C: Oscar Cluff
Key Reserves: G Omer Mayer, G Gicarri Harris, C Daniel Jacobsen.
Purdue’s biggest addition is South Dakota State transfer big man Oscar Cluff, a 6' 11" big whose basketball journey has taken him from Australia to junior college to Washington State to SDSU to now Purdue. He’s a physical specimen who dominates the glass and averaged 17.6 points and 12.3 rebounds per game. Purdue simply didn’t have the size and physicality around the rim a year ago that it has been accustomed to, and Cluff should help there … all while taking a bit of post scoring pressure off Kaufman-Renn. There’s some logic in a platoon between Cluff and Jacobsen: Cluff providing the rebounding and offensive edge, Jacobsen as a change-of-pace rim protector and lob threat. Also from the portal up front is Liam Murphy, a sharpshooting stretch four who could sometimes spell Kaufman-Renn.
The backcourt is crowded, but the Boilers have two more freshmen with high ceilings. Omer Mayer drew plenty of buzz after lighting up the FIBA U19 World Cup for Israel. He can take some of the pressure off Smith at times as a playmaker and is a capable shooter when playing off the ball. Purdue is also high on Antione West Jr., but a second-year breakout may be more realistic with Smith and Loyer graduating.
Causes for Concern
Purdue was good-not-great in 2024–25 because of its defensive limitations. The Boilermakers were a sieve at the rim by conference play, ranking as the Big Ten’s worst two-point defense and blocking shots at the lowest rate in the conference. Purdue largely covered for it by playing a very conservative defense that forced teams to beat them from deep, but that’s a low-ceiling approach. In the KenPom era (since 1996–97), no team has won the national title with a defense ranked outside KenPom’s top 25, and only two champions have been outside the top 20. Can Cluff’s physicality plus Jacobsen’s shot blocking give them significant a defensive bump? If not, the Purdue offense might have to be historically good to outgun teams in March.
The Bottom Line
Purdue has one of the best coaches in the country (Painter), the best point guard in the country (Smith) and one of the best forwards in the country (Kaufman-Renn). That gives Purdue one of the highest floors in the country. If the defense takes a step or one of the young guards explodes into another top-tier option, this might be the best team in the country.