{"id":704297,"date":"2026-04-08T00:48:36","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T00:48:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/704297\/"},"modified":"2026-04-08T00:48:36","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T00:48:36","slug":"with-loaded-backcourt-next-season-purdue-guard-enters-transfer-portal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/704297\/","title":{"rendered":"With loaded backcourt next season, Purdue guard enters transfer portal"},"content":{"rendered":"

WEST LAFAYETTE \u2212 For two years, Aaron Fine<\/a> spent practices going head-to-head with first-team All-American point guard Braden Smith.<\/p>\n

Now the Purdue basketball<\/a> walk-on is exploring his options elsewhere.<\/p>\n

Fine confirmed he’s entered the transfer portal, while keeping the option open of returning to Purdue<\/a>. He has three years of eligibility remaining.<\/p>\n

After redshirting the 2024-25 season, Fine played nine games this season, scoring in six of them and shooting 50%.<\/p>\n

More: Toughest matchup for Purdue’s Braden Smith not who you think<\/a><\/p>\n

He was an Indiana All-Star in 2024 after averaging 17.9 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.4 assists and shooting 52%, including 41% from 3-point range, as a senior at Noblesville.<\/p>\n

Fine has shown himself a capable Division I guard. Despite the graduation of Smith, a returning Omer Mayer, Gicarri Harris, CJ Cox and Antione West, along with adding incoming freshman Luke Ertel likely would limit Fine’s opportunities next season.<\/p>\n

\"Aaron<\/p>\n

Aaron Fine finishes a layup in the final minute of the game during the second half of Purdue’s game against IU on Feb. 20, 2026 at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, IN.<\/p>\n

All have at least two years of eligibility remaining.<\/p>\n

Mayer’s camp already confirmed<\/a> he will be a Boilermaker next season, confirming what Mayer said after an Elite 8 loss to Arizona. As of Tuesday afternoon, the first day players can officially go into the transfer portal, Purdue has no others who have entered.<\/p>\n

A return to Purdue would probably put him in a similar role as a valuable scout team player next season. Fine cited earlier this season he redshirted as a walk-on freshman seeking long term gain, similar to one Grady Eifert experienced at Purdue, becoming a starter as a senior for a team that went to the Elite 8.<\/p>\n

Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at sking@jconline.com and follow him on X and Instagram @samueltking.<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Purdue basketball walk-on Aaron Fine enters transfer portal<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WEST LAFAYETTE \u2212 For two years, Aaron Fine spent practices going head-to-head with first-team All-American point guard Braden…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":704298,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3723],"tags":[37351,7,2456,217,231,772,1544,5034,2467,2051],"class_list":{"0":"post-704297","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-basketball","8":"tag-aaron-fine","9":"tag-basketball","10":"tag-braden-smith","11":"tag-college-basketball","12":"tag-ncaa","13":"tag-ncaa-basketball","14":"tag-ncaab","15":"tag-next-season","16":"tag-purdue","17":"tag-transfer-portal"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116366338897795108","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/704297","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=704297"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/704297\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/704298"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=704297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=704297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=704297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}