Purdue Basketball Taking A Step Back In 2026-27

The Purdue Boilermakers have been one of the more successful programs in the Big Ten in recent years. Then again, they have had All-American players both in the post and at point guard. The time of success appears to be a bit in the rearview for Purdue, at least so far this season. When you have a run of four years with a historic point guard like Braden Smith was for the Boilermakers, the moment that player is gone, it makes things hard to replace.

So far in 2026-27, it’s very clear that Purdue is taking a big step back this season.

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Purdue Is Looking For A New Alpha

Nov 9, 2026; West Lafayette, Indiana, USA; Purdue Boilermakers center Daniel Jacobsen (12) dunks the ball in front of Illinois State Redbirds forward Noah Cleveland (0) during the second half at Mackey Arena. Mandatory Credit: Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images

Sure, a team isn’t always going to be able to have a superstar player each and every time they move on. Which is clearly the case thus far for Purdue. Smith was special, as was Fletcher Loyer; they did win a lot of games together. Both graduated and left behind pretty strong legacies. Those were a pair of big-time bucket-getters for the Boilermakers for each of the last four seasons.

Then again, it feels like it’s a similar situation to when Memphis Grizzlies center Zach Edey graduated from Purdue; they had to find a new answer in the post. For the last few seasons, that was Trey Kaufman-Renn. Well, he also graduated, but despite being drafted in the 2026 NBA Draft, he chose to pursue another season of college ball. Kaufman-Renn entered the transfer portal and joined the Kansas Jayhawks.

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Right now it feels like the Boilermakers could really use his presence and experience. Especially since they started the season 0-2, for the first time since 1976. They have since rebounded with their first win of the season. However, in stretches in both their clash with Gonzaga and then in the double overtime duel with Valparaiso, Purdue just couldn’t find a way…

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Publish date : 2026-11-12 12:00:00

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