Purdue Boilermakers - Grade: B+
- 2025-26 record: 30-9 (13-7)
Roster departures
- Braden Smith (14.3 ppg and 8.8 apg)
- Fletcher Loyer (14.1 ppg and 2.1 apg)
- Trey Kaufman-Renn (14.2 ppg and 8.3 rpg)
- Oscar Cluff (10.6 ppg and 7.5 rpg)
- Liam Murphy (2.3 ppg and 0.9 rpg)
Roster returnees
- CJ Cox (8.5 ppg and 2.8 rpg)
- Daniel Jacobsen (5.5 ppg and 3.0 rpg)
- Omer Mayer (5.5 ppg and 1.2 apg)
- Gicarri Harris (4.6 ppg and 1.6 rpg)
- Jack Benter (4.4 ppg and 2.6 rpg)
Roster additions
- Caden Pierce (11.1 ppg and 7.2 rpg in 2024-25 at Princeton)
- Luke Ertel (4-star guard prospect)
- Jacob Wheeler (4-star wing prospect)
- Sinan Huan (4-star center prospect)
No Big Ten Basketball team has been quieter this offseason than Purdue, for understandable reasons. They’re one of two teams (Virginia) to not lose anyone with eligibility to the transfer portal. For those who return, such as Cox, Mayer, and Harris, they’re all legit breakout candidates in a program that always has them.
Adding Pierce, a former Ivy League Player of the Year winner, is an all-around boost. But considering how much talent the team lost, led by All-American and Big Ten Player of the Year guard Smith, it’s hard not to feel as if Purdue could’ve done more in terms of proven talent to avoid too much of a drop-off.
In the end, this is how Purdue and Coach Matt Painter operate, and it’s been successful over a long period. So while the roster is built to have some ups and downs next year, the pieces will be in place to create the next Boilermaker contender.
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