Braden Smith Believes Purdue's Culture Will Survive Through Changing Landscape

Not many groups of players stick around one school for four years today. Why Braden Smith doesn't believe that will change at Purdue, even in today's landscape.

Purdue Boilermakers guard Braden Smith (3) celebrates a play. | Jacob Musselman-Imagn Images

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The culture at Purdue is what brought Braden Smith to West Lafayette. It's also why he decided to return for his senior season. Even in a world where college basketball is constantly changing, the senior guard believes the environment within the program is strong enough to withstand the gusts of change.

Saturday night, the veteran trio of Smith, Fletcher Loyer and Trey Kaufman-Renn stepped off the court at Mackey Arena one final time together. It came in a 97-93 loss to Wisconsin, Purdue's fifth home loss of the season.

But those three seniors represent something bigger than the result on Saturday evening. Those three spent their entire careers at Purdue, a rarity in the ever-changing landscape of college athletics.

Even as NIL deals become more lucrative and tampering increases, Smith doesn't believe there will be a massive change at Purdue. To him, the culture in West Lafayette is unlike anything else in college basketball.

"I'd assume for Purdue, it's never really going to change. That's the type of people Coach Paint gets," Smith said. "That's the reason why I wanted to come back. It's the reason I chose this place in the first place. You don't have a culture like this [anywhere else], and I think that's what makes it really special."

Purdue Boilermakers guard Braden Smith (3) dribbles the ball. | Jacob Musselman-Imagn Images

Smith, Loyer and Kaufman-Renn have won two Big Ten titles, a Big Ten Tournament championship, have played in three (soon to be four) NCAA Tournaments and have reached the National Championship Game.

All three seniors have scored over 1,000 career points. Smith is the Big Ten's all-time assist leader and is still chasing the NCAA record. Loyer is the program's new career three-point leader. Kaufman-Renn has scored more than 1,500 points and was an All-Big Ten and All-American selection.

This trio has accomplished a lot during their time in West Lafayette. All of them could have transferred out, likely getting an opportunity for larger NIL opportunities. Instead, they decided to stay.

It speaks volumes to the culture Matt Painter and his staff have built at Purdue.

Purdue looking ahead to Big Ten Tournament, March Madness

Purdue Boilermakers head coach Matt Painter reacts to a call. | Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images

The regular season didn't end the way Purdue had hoped. This was a team with aspirations of winning a Big Ten championship and earning a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Both of those are out the window.

But Painter's squad isn't backing away from its Final Four aspirations. The Boilermakers are hoping to get back on the right track and start playing their best basketball over the next four weeks.

"We're not giving in to this s---," Painter said. "We're the people that do it. You gotta go back to the drawing board, gotta watch tape, gotta figure it out. Now, I like the Big Ten Tournament. You figure out who you're going to play, figure out who you're going to play from a winner. You sit and play that waiting game, then you have to get ready really quick.

"Now, when the NCAA Tournament hits, now you have four days. You have a Thursday game or you have five days with a Friday game. You have to get your team ready. These guys have been through a lot of experiences. That's our plan, playing our best basketball at the end."

Purdue will be the No. 7 seed in the Big Ten Tournament. The Boilermakers will play their first game on Thursday, March 12, with tipoff set for 6:30 p.m. ET.

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