Braden Smith Deserved Top Honors; Painter Shows Frustration
Sometimes it feels good to be wrong.
When the Purdue men’s basketball team wilted down the stretch, falling from first place to a share of fourth, I figured Big Ten Player of the Year honors would go to someone whose team finished ahead of the Boilermakers and not preseason favorite Braden Smith.
Credit the league coaches and media for getting it right Tuesday, when it was announced that Smith was a unanimous choice. The award allows Purdue to become the first Big Ten school to have three consecutive Player of the Year winners as voted upon by the coaches and media.
It would not be surprising if that achievement is extended to four in a row when Smith is a senior in 2025-26. Don’t underestimate the chances of teammate and fellow first-team All-Big Ten selection Trey Kaufman-Renn to push Smith for the honor.
A good week for Smith continued on Wednesday when he earned first-team All-America honors from The Sporting News. The publication is one-fourth of the entities that comprise consensus All-America recognition. The National Association of Basketball Coaches, Associated Press and United States Basketball Writers Association will announce their All-America teams later this month.
Only Kansas has had as many first-team All-Americans since the 2016-17 season. Smith joins Caleb Swanigan (2017), Jaden Ivey (2022) and Zach Edey (2023, 2024) on the list.
Smith’s award gives Purdue its seventh Big Ten Player of the Year winner since the honor was first presented in 1984. Smith is the first non-big man Boilermaker to win, following the footsteps of Stephen Scheffer in 1990, Glenn Robinson in 1994, JaJuan Johnson in 2011, Swanigan in 2017 and of course, two-time National Player of the Year Edey.
Junior guard Fletcher Loyer earned honorable mention status from the media. Senior center Caleb Furst was selected the team’s Sportsmanship Award recipient.
A closer look at Smith’s statistics reveals why this was an easy vote for the coaches and media. His scoring average increased from 12.0 as a sophomore to 16.3. Smith cruised past the previous Big Ten record for assists in conference play only with 175, 18 more than Michigan’s Cassius Winston.
Smith also breezed past Bruce Parkinson’s 48-year-old Purdue career assists record, handing out 717 in 105 career games.
Speaking of assists, only Big Ten legend Magic Johnson has also recorded 450 points, 250 assists, 125 rebounds and 60 steals in a season. Smith has now done it twice.
Not bad for a player ranked No. 198 out of Westfield High School whose only offers before Purdue came from Belmont, Appalachian State, Montana and Toledo according to 247 Sports.
Interviewed by the Big Ten Network’s Rick Pizzo, Smith thanked coach Matt Painter for believing in him.
“I think having a coach that truly trusts in his players . . . he’s never lied to me,” Smith said. “He has always stuck with his word. Having somebody like that, it builds trust for me. He threw us in the fire at a very young age when a lot of people could have went other ways. He trusts us and we gained that trust. That’s gotten me to where I’m at today.”
Smith also gives Painter the assist for being more aggressive offensively.
“I get yelled at by ‘Paint’ all the time for not shooting,” Smith said. “I think that’s the biggest thing. I always want to include everybody and get them the ball, put them in spots to be successful. I believe that’s my job. I think (it’s) understanding when to score and not score and when it’s time to take over a game and when it’s time not to.”
Kaufman-Renn missed by four points of winning the Big Ten scoring title, averaging 20.5 points in league play and 19.7 for the season. His 246 two-point field goals made leads the nation. The 6-9 forward-center surpassed 1,000 career points (1,020) in the regular season finale at Illinois.
Kaufman-Renn is the 12th player in the Painter era to earn first-team All-Big Ten honors. The others are Carl Landry (2007), Robbie Hummel (2008, 2010, 2012), E’Twaun Moore (2010-11), JaJuan Johnson (2009, 2011), A.J. Hammons (2016), Caleb Swanigan (2017), Carsen Edwards (2018-19), Trevion Williams (2021), Jaden Ivey (2022), Zach Edey (2023-24) and Smith (2024-25).
The All-Big Ten honor probably felt satisfying to Kaufman-Renn after being left off the finalists list for the Karl Malone (power forward) and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (center) awards. To be fair, voters probably couldn’t decide where to slot Kaufman-Renn.
A few weeks ago, Smith expressed his displeasure with the Malone and Abdul-Jabbar voters.
“We’re back to this BS again, excuse my language,” Smith said. “You see what he’s doing, the numbers he’s putting up.”
Loyer led the Big Ten in 3-point percentage, making 46.5 percent (46 of 99) behind the arc. Entering the postseason, Loyer has shot 59.2 percent from 3-point range during the past 11 games. He averaged 14.4 points and joined Smith and Kaufman-Renn as a member of the Purdue 1,000-point club this season.
Smith’s Big Ten Player of the Year honor might also help him become Purdue’s first winner of the Bob Cousy Award, presented annually to the nation’s top point guard.
Smith’s numbers (16.3 ppg, 8.8 assists, 4.7 rebounds, 39.7 shooting from 3-point range) compare favorably to the other four finalists.
Mark Sears of Alabama has the edge in scoring (19.2 ppg) but has handed out just five assists a game, averages 3.1 rebounds and is a 35.2 percent shooter from 3-point range. In Purdue’s 87-78 victory against Alabama earlier this season, Sears had 15 points, six assists and four rebounds. Smith put up 17 points, 10 assists and six rebounds.
Kam Jones of Marquette earned unanimous first-team All-Big East honors with 18.9 points, 6.1 assists and 4.5 rebounds per game. Jones shot just 30.6 percent from 3-point range.
However, Jones was spectacular against visiting Purdue earlier this season. Jones’ triple double of 17 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists paved the way for a 76-58 victory. Smith had 11 points, nine assists and four rebounds against the Golden Eagles.
Zakai Ziegler of Tennessee is averaging 13.1 points, 7.5 assists and 3.0 rebounds while shooting 31.9 percent behind the arc.
Walter Clayton Jr. of Florida averages 17.2 points, 4.3 assists and 3.8 rebounds per game. He’s also a high volume 3-point shooter, making 36.4 percent on 231 attempts.
There’s no doubt in Painter’s mind who is the best point guard in college basketball. Painter, who is maturing into a major voice in the game, recently expressed his frustration at persuading others to see Smith’s greatness.
“There were two different point guard camps last year where they invited 15-16 point guards – coming into college, in college – and I couldn’t get Braden Smith in either one of those,” Painter said. “I’m not saying he’s a top 15 point guard in the country. I’m saying he’s the best point guard in the country.
“It makes no sense. You have non-basketball people making basketball decisions. They stereotypically look at somebody who’s 5-11 like he’s not a player. He’s one of the best passers ever. He could end up being the best passer ever.
“The same holds true for Trey. What’s he supposed to do? You can’t make up the numbers that he has. To each their own. That’s on them. They are showing they don’t understand the game and what matters.”
Did you know?
When Purdue defeated UCLA 76-66 on Feb. 28 in Mackey Arena, it was the Boilermakers’ first victory against the Bruins since Dec. 18, 1959. UCLA’s eight-game winning streak in the series had been the longest active losing streak against a Purdue opponent.
The victory also completed a sweep of the newest Big Ten members (Oregon, Washington, USC, UCLA), the four wins coming by a combined 46 points. Michigan was the only other Big Ten school to go 4-0 against the West Coast schools.
Kenny Thompson is the former sports editor for the Lafayette Journal & Courier and an award-winning journalist. He has covered Purdue athletics for many years.