Player of the Year's return cements this team as 2025-26 national title favorites

Many quality college basketball players have run out of eligibility from their 4th or 5th years. That includes stars from the most recent Final Four, such as Walter Clayton Jr. (Florida), LJ Cryer (Houston), Johni Broome (Auburn), and, of course, the presumptive No. 1 pick in the next NBA Draft, Cooper Flagg of Duke.

But some returning stars from this past season are still set to return for next year. Officially, that now includes Braden Smith, the reigning Big Ten Player of the Year and All-American performer from Purdue.

Smith is a three-year starter with the Boilermakers, who showed that he didn’t need Zach Edey to become a national star in his own right. This past season, the junior ball-handler averaged 15.8 ppg, 4.5 rpg, and 8.7 apg, which was good for second in the nation before Ryan Nembhard of Gonzaga. 

Smith is also a career 39% shooter from three-point range, ranking second in the conference with 2.2 steals per game. He’s the reigning Bob Cousy Award Winner for best point guard in the nation over Nembhard and is all but guaranteed to be a preseason All-American for the 2025-26 campaign.

With Smith on board and not even going through the NBA Draft process, it’s safe to slot Purdue onto the preseason top-3 rankings for the 2025-26 campaign. Not only is Smith back, but so is All-Big Ten forward Trey Kaufmann-Renn, coming off averaging 20.1 ppg and 6.5 rpg, shooting 60% from the field. Plus, the Boilermakers added former South Dakota State big man Oscar Cluff, who produced 17.6 ppg and 12.3 rpg this past season.

There’s still work to do for Purdue’s roster, including adding a wing or two after losing Cam Hiede and Myles Colvin to the transfer portal. But the stars and focal pieces are set, giving Purdue another good chance at making the Final Four.