Purdue men’s basketball head coach Matt Painter has become known as one of the country’s greatest at bringing back talent. This includes the returns of the senior big three of guard Braden Smith, forward Trey Kaufman-Renn, and guard Fletcher Loyer for one final run.
In years past, Painter wasn’t known as someone to dabble in the transfer portal — until this year. Painter put together one of college basketball’s most meaningful classes, where all three recruits look to contribute on Day One.
It started off with a bang when one of the nation’s top rebounders and a top-15 transfer recruit, senior center Oscar Cluff from South Dakota State, decided to commit to Purdue over Iowa State. Cluff will pair up with redshirt freshman center Daniel Jacobsen as the main men in the middle.
Omer Mayer, an Israel native, was also brought in from across the pond. Mayer was one of the top scorers over the summer in the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup, averaging 20 points per game in the tournament. He also performed well in the U20 EuroBasket Championships, averaging 16.7 points. He’ll be learning behind possibly the nation’s best point guard and early National Player of the Year frontrunner, Braden Smith.
Senior forward Liam Murphy was also an under-the-radar recruit this offseason, as he shot a whopping 42.3% from three last year. He’ll be a good stretch four option for the Boilers.
Purdue is poised for a national title contending season, with several pundits ranking it as the No. 1 team preseason. Here is a breakdown of the big games in Purdue men’s basketball’s 127th season:
Kentucky — Oct. 24
Purdue starts off the season with a very highly anticipated exhibition game at Kentucky, which is also expected to be ranked in the AP Top 25. Kentucky was reported to have tried luring Smith away from Purdue over the offseason. Tickets for the game down in Lexington will be $350.
Evansville — Nov. 4
Head coach Matt Painter speaks with an official about a call on the side of the court.
Madeline Misterka | Staff Photographer
For Purdue’s home and season opener, the Boilermakers welcome Evansville to Mackey Arena. This should be a relatively easy first game for the Boilers, as the Purple Aces went 11-21 last year.
Alabama — Nov. 13
Purdue will face its first big challenge of the year on Nov. 13, when they travel down to Tuscaloosa to take on the Crimson Tide. This is a team Purdue is fairly familiar with. Matt Painter has gone head to head with Nate Oats each of the past two seasons.
The most notable of the previous two matchups was when Zach Edey returned to his home town, Toronto, and put up a stat line of 35 points and seven rebounds.
Baha Mar Hoops Championship — Nov. 20
Next up, Purdue heads to the beaches of the Bahamas as they’ll participate in the Baha Mar Hoops Championship. This will be a two game series where the Boilers take on the Memphis Tigers on Nov. 20.
If they win this one, they will then take on the winner of Texas Tech and Wake Forest the following day. Purdue will be hoping for Texas Tech to win, since a victory would strengthen their resume with another top-10 opponent. However, Wake Forest would be an intriguing matchup, as that is now where former Purdue guard Myles Colvin calls home.
Junior forward Trey Kaufman-Renn encourages the crowd to get loud and cheer, while head coach Matt Painter calls out warnings and advice to the team.
Madeline Misterka | Staff Photographer
Rutgers — Dec. 3
The Boilermakers then head back to the states for the Big Ten opener with the daunting opponent of Rutgers. Purdue opens league play on the road for the third straight year, having gone 0-3 in that time span. The Boilers will look to flip the script this year and start off league play strong.
Iowa State — Dec. 6
Iowa State then makes the dreaded trip to Mackey for what will likely be a top-15 showdown. The arena will be packed and loud.
Minnesota — Dec. 10
Purdue then finishes off the initial stretch of Big Ten games with Minnesota at home. Purdue will be looking to start off conference play 2-0 for only the second time in eight years.
Marquette — Dec. 13
Purdue’s next big game tips off just three days later and will feature a familiar opponent, Marquette.
Marquette’s coach Shaka Smart has become a common name around the Purdue fanbase, having played the Boilers five total times, winning three. This dates back to his Virginia Commonwealth and Texas days, where he most notably upset Purdue in the 2011 March Madness with No. 11-seeded VCU. Painter will be looking for some vengeance and to even up the series.
Auburn — Dec. 20
As an early Christmas present for Purdue fans, the Boilers then head to the Indy Classic, where they will face an Auburn team with five newcomers in the starting five. This is also a revenge game, as fans saw Purdue fall to Auburn 87-69 in 2024. This is the last game before the brief nine-day winter break.
(Left to right) Sophomore guard C.J. Cox, senior guard Braden Smith, senior guard Fletcher Loyer and freshman guard Antoine West Jr. speak on the court.
CJ Acevedo | Staff Reporters
Wisconsin — Jan. 3
Purdue opens the new year in Madison at the Kohl Center, starting a streak of only-conference opponents for the rest of the 2025-26 schedule. The Badgers bested the Boilers 94-84 in their last matchup this past February.
UCLA — Jan. 20
Following a homestand against Washington, Penn State, and a non-Fran McCaffery-led Iowa, Purdue will make the trip out west, as it faces University of Southern California on Jan. 17 and University of California, Los Angeles three days later.
This starts the most difficult of Purdue’s stretches this next season. UCLA is set up to be another potential top 10-15 matchup for the Boilers this year.
In this matchup, fans will see Smith face off with senior Donovan Dent, one of the highest-regarded players to come out of the transfer portal. This will be a fierce position battle between two of the nation’s best point guards.
Illinois — Jan. 24
The next big matchup will be when Illinois crosses the state line to take on Purdue. Fighting Illini head coach Brad Underwood has recently shown a lot of love to international players, the majority being European — their starting lineup alone will likely feature four.
Indiana — Jan. 27 and Feb. 20
Purdue will then head down south to Bloomington where they’ll play Indiana in Assembly Hall. In stark contrast to Purdue, Indiana has zero returning players from last year’s squad. New head coach Darian DeVries has a tall task ahead of him to revitalize the Hoosiers back to men’s basketball relevancy.
Sophomore guard C.J. Cox and senior guard Braden Smith are pit against each other during this friendly scrimmage game.
CJ Acevedo | Staff Reporter
The Boilers continue on their Big Ten schedule, as Indiana then journeys to Mackey Arena about a month later to face the Paint Crew and the Boilermaker crowd.
Wisconsin — March 7
Finally, Purdue fans from all around will send the seniors off in historic fashion with the senior night game versus Wisconsin. Smith, Kaufman-Renn, and Loyer will all receive their much-deserved recognition in combination with a Big Ten matchup in Mackey.
While there are several marquee matchups to watch throughout the season, all eyes are on April. As March Madness begins, there will be six opponents that stand in the way of a national title. A team hasn’t won the national championship in their own state since UCLA in 1975, but the Boilermakers have chance to make history with the finals being held in Indianapolis this year. One thing is certain: This season is shaping up to be one to remember.
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