Sports Illustrated’s Men’s College Basketball Preseason Top 25: No. 5 Purdue

Through Oct. 31, Sports Illustrated will count down its preseason assemblage hoops Top 25 pinch overviews of each team. Here are nan afloat rankings truthful far.

Matt Painter isn’t moving from nan incredibly precocious expectations that will beryllium strapped to nan Boilermakers this season. 

National title aliases bust? That modular is applied to very, very fewer successful assemblage basketball, but pinch a brace of superstars backmost for their elder seasons and improved extent astir them, it’s an all-in twelvemonth successful West Lafayette, Ind. Braden Smith has proven himself to beryllium 1 of nan champion assemblage constituent guards successful a procreation and has a chance to etch himself further into nan grounds books this twelvemonth arsenic he chases Bobby Hurley’s all-time profession assists record. He’s an elite pick-and-roll subordinate who will beryllium nan motor of what KenPom projects to beryllium nan astir businesslike discourtesy successful assemblage hoops this season. Fellow All-American, Trey Kaufman-Renn, exploded to mean 20 points per crippled arsenic a junior. He’s 1 of nan astir skilled frontcourt players successful nan state and should use from much thief up beforehand this season. Add successful chap 1,000-point scorer Fletcher Loyer, 1 of nan champion shooters successful nan country, and you person a seasoned nucleus successful spot dissimilar immoderate different successful nan sport. All 3 took discounts to return to Purdue and pursuit a championship. We’ll spot if their loyalty is rewarded. 

And not to beryllium ignored amid nan Boilermakers’ elite seasoned acquisition is really overmuch mileage Painter sewage retired of his freshman people from a twelvemonth ago. C.J. Cox and Gicarri Harris gave Purdue awesome minutes past season, while Daniel Jacobsen was successful statement to beryllium nan Boilermakers’ starting halfway earlier breaking his limb early successful their 2nd crippled of nan season. Cox and Harris are valuable domiciled players pinch their expertise to take sides and successful peculiar Cox’s shotmaking spurtability, and some person room to proceed to emerge. 

At its halfway though, Purdue needs its newcomers (and Jacobsen, who’s functionally a caller face) to thief elevate it from a very bully but flawed squad a play agone to a nationalist title favorite. 

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 guardant Trey Kaufman-Renn will get immoderate thief this play and return immoderate of nan load disconnected his plate. / Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

Key Additions 

Purdue’s biggest summation is South Dakota State transportation large man Oscar Cluff, a 6' 11" large whose hoops travel has taken him from Australia to inferior assemblage to Washington State to SDSU to now Purdue. He’s a beingness specimen who dominates nan solid and averaged 17.6 points and 12.3 rebounds per game. Purdue simply didn’t person nan size and physicality astir nan rim a twelvemonth agone that it has been accustomed to, and Cluff should thief location … each while taking a spot of station scoring unit disconnected Kaufman-Renn. There’s immoderate logic successful a platoon betwixt Cluff and Jacobsen: Cluff providing nan rebounding and violative edge, Jacobsen arsenic a change-of-pace rim protector and lob threat. Also from nan portal up beforehand is Liam Murphy, a sharpshooting agelong 4 who could sometimes spell Kaufman-Renn.  

The backcourt is crowded, but nan Boilers person 2 much freshmen pinch precocious ceilings. Omer Mayer drew plentifulness of buzz aft lighting up nan FIBA U19 World Cup for Israel. He tin return immoderate of nan unit disconnected Smith astatine times arsenic a playmaker and is simply a tin shooter erstwhile playing disconnected nan ball. Purdue is besides precocious connected Antione West Jr., but a second-year breakout whitethorn beryllium much realistic pinch Smith and Loyer graduating. 

Purdue was good-not-great successful 2024–25 because of its protect limitations. The Boilermakers were a sieve astatine nan rim by convention play, ranking arsenic nan Big Ten’s worst two-point defense and blocking shots astatine nan lowest complaint successful nan conference. Purdue mostly covered for it by playing a very blimpish defense that forced teams to hit them from deep, but that’s a low-ceiling approach. In nan KenPom era (since 1996–97), nary squad has won nan nationalist title pinch a defense classed extracurricular KenPom’s apical 25, and only 2 champions person been extracurricular nan apical 20. Can Cluff’s physicality positive Jacobsen’s changeable blocking springiness them that significant a protect bump? If not, nan Purdue discourtesy mightiness person to beryllium historically bully to outgun teams successful March. 

The Bottom Line 

Purdue has 1 of nan champion coaches successful nan state (Painter), nan champion constituent defender successful nan state (Smith), and 1 of nan champion forwards successful nan state (Kaufman-Renn). That gives Purdue 1 of nan highest floors successful nan country. If nan defense takes a measurement aliases 1 of nan young guards explodes into different top-tier option, this mightiness beryllium nan champion squad successful nan country. 

More College Basketball connected Sports Illustrated

Listen to SI’s caller assemblage sports podcast, Others Receiving Votes, beneath aliases connected Apple and Spotify. Watch nan show connected SI’s YouTube channel.