Purdue goes into the 2025-26 college basketball season with the biggest possible bullseye across its chest.
The Boilermakers enter their Nov. 4 season opener at home against Evansville ranked No. 1 in the preseason for the first time in program history. It’s easy to see why: Their best players are back in unanimous preseason All-American Braden Smith and forward Trey Kaufman-Renn, who joined Smith on some All-America lists.
“Being ranked No. 1 in the preseason is a great indicator of what we feel this team can accomplish,” said Purdue coach Matt Painter. “But the goal is to be No. 1 at the end of the year. We’re thrilled that people think this highly of our team, but there is a long way to go and a lot of work to do to reach that goal in April.”
Smith, Kaufman-Renn and 3-point sharpshooter Fletcher Loyer give the Boilermakers, who went 24-12 last season and lost to Houston in a regional semifinal, a veteran nucleus that has seen about everything there is to see in the sport.
Smith, who averaged career highs in scoring (15.8 points per game), assists (8.7) and steals (2.2) last season, needs 125 points and 242 assists to become the first Division I player to notch 1,500 points, 1,000 assists and 500 rebounds.
Kaufman-Renn pumped in a team-high 20.1 ppg last season, connected on just under 60 percent of his field-goal tries and grabbed 6.5 rebounds. Loyer chipped in a career-high 13.8 ppg and sank 44.4 percent of his 3-pointers.
Purdue added more bulk in the offseason with the addition of South Dakota State transfer Oscar Cluff, who averaged 17.6 points and 12.3 rebounds last season while hitting 63.4 percent of his field-goal attempts. The 6-foot-11 Cluff has beaten out 7-4 Daniel Jacobsen, who was off to a promising start last season until breaking his tibia in the second game.
As for Evansville, it’s coming off an 11-21 season that saw it lose in the first round of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament as the 10th seed. The Purple Aces return a pair of starters, both up front.
Center Connor Turnbull averaged 1.9 blocked shots per game last season in earning MVC Defensive Player of the Year honors. He’s also the top returning scorer at 9.2 ppg, while Joshua Hughes chipped in 7.2 ppg and rejected 1.1 shots per game, fifth in the league.
Evansville lost its top player from 2024-25 to the transfer portal. Point guard Tayshawn Comer, who scored 16.2 ppg and dished out 4.1 assists to earn second-team All-MVC honors, wound up at Nevada.
“We had a decent amount of departures, which is becoming the norm in mid-major basketball, but I feel like we have the deepest team we’ve had since I’ve been here,” said fourth-year coach David Ragland. “We want to play free-flowing and getting to the next play.”
Ragland has emphasized getting bigger during his tenure, and this team will be able to match up physically with most foes, at least on paper. The addition of Saint Louis transfer AJ Casey means his front line could stand 6-9 (Casey), 6-10 (Hughes) and 6-10 (Turnbull).
–Field Level Media
