Purdue’s Veterans Focused on Getting Freshmen ‘Caught Up’

Fresh off a run to the National Championship Game in 2024, Purdue's veterans are determined to make another strong run this coming season. How can they make that happen? Getting the highly-touted freshman class up to speed.

Purdue Boilermakers guard Braden Smith yells down court / Alex Martin / Journal and Courier / USA

Examples of the culture coach Matt Painter built within Purdue’s basketball program continue to permeate throughout the practice facility. The Boilermaker veterans have all accepted a leadership role with the same goal in mind during the summer months: Get the freshmen caught up.

Purdue held its first practice of the summer last week, the starting point of the squad’s quest for a third consecutive Big Ten regular season title and another deep run in the NCAA Tournament. It’s a team that will look different from last year’s national runner-up group, with Zach Edey, Mason Gillis, Lance Jones and Ethan Morton out of the picture.

Yes, Purdue said goodbye to an incredibly talented and successful senior class, but it welcomes in an exciting freshman group. They  include four-star guard Gicarri Harris, four-star center Daniel Jacobsen, three-star guards CJ Cox and Jack Benter and three-star forward Raleigh Burgess.

The class ranks No. 16 nationally, according to 247Sports. It’s the highest-ranked recruiting class Painter has brought to West Lafayette in over a decade.

But it’s not as if the incoming class is going to come in and immediately run the show. That’s not how things work at Purdue. But the goal for veterans like Braden Smith, Fletcher Loyer, Myles Colvin? Helping the young guns as much as possible.

“We've got a lot of young guys coming in that have a lot of talent,” Smith said. “So, I think our main focus right now is just leading them through summer and just trying to help them the best we can."

“Obviously it's a new group, we lost some key pieces but we've got a lot to improve on. We still have the same goals in mind,” Loyer said. “There's no step back, only forward. Just getting our older guys to teach young guys the ropes and show them how we roll around here."

Purdue is coming off a 34-5 campaign in 2023-24, reaching the National Championship Game for the first time since 1969. The Boilermakers were Big Ten regular season champions in back-to-back seasons.

A big reason why the Boilers have enjoyed so much success recently is because of the selflessness associated with the program. It’s not specific to this summer but a core value  instilled within every player wearing a black-and-gold uniform.

"One thing I said when we had open runs — we're not gonna let you struggle. They didn't let me struggle last year; they helped me along the way. Because they knew as long as I was doing better, the whole team would do good,” Colvin said. “So, I think that's one thing I wanted to harp on, just making sure they didn't feel alone, we're here for them and we're gonna make them as good as everybody else so we can be as good as we can."

And make no mistake, Purdue’s goals haven’t changed one bit. The Boilermakers are trying to do more than reach the Final Four again; they want to bring a national championship back to West Lafayette.

Getting back to that point is going to take a lot of guidance from the veterans, who have experienced everything from losing to a No. 16 seed (Fairleigh Dickinson) to coming one game short of winning the program’s first NCAA title.

What does that leadership look like? Loyer said it’s stuff he learned from other teammates during his first two years at Purdue.

"Doing things that Ethan Morton and Mason Gillis did for us. Doing things Zach (Edey) did for us. Whether it's showing up at 7 a.m. or diving on loose balls or talking to them after drills,” he said.

 “Just showing them what to do and how to act, because getting to the national championship is tough. We want to do it again. So, just teaching them what we do and how we roll and then them improving and showing us their talent, as well."

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