College Basketball Analyst Provides Breakdown of Purdue Guard Omer Mayer's Game
In this story:
Over the last week, Purdue fans have add the opportunity to catch a glimpse of guard Omer Mayer in the 2025 FIBA U19 World Cup. He's provided some major sparks for Israel, leading his team to a trip to the quarterfinal round of the event before suffering a 79-55 loss to Slovenia on Friday.
Mayer has been sensational through four games, averaging 20.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 4.3 assists per game. His 33-point performance in a win over Cameroon in the Round of 16 is the best single-game performance of the event this year.
But what exactly does Mayer bring to West Lafayette? How will his skill set help the Boilermakers in their quest to a national championship during the 2025-26 season? ESPN college basketball analyst Fran Fraschilla provided a short, two-minute breakdown of the guard's game.
Fran Fraschilla breaks down Omer Mayer's game
During FIBA World Cup, Mayer has demonstrated the ability to do a little bit of everything on the court. He's capable of hitting big-time shots and is also a great passer and strong rebounder for a lead guard.
Below is the video of Fraschilla's breakdown of Mayer's game.
Hey, @BoilerBall fans, here’s a quick scouting report of Israeli guard, Omer Mayer. He’s been starring in @FIBAWC Under 19’s. He’s not Rick Mount but he’s pretty darn good. 👍🏼🏀🇮🇱 @bigten @coach_paint pic.twitter.com/tg0tgWCNCJ
— Fran Fraschilla (@franfraschilla) July 3, 2025
Trey Kaufman-Renn ready for Omer Mayer to arrive at Purdue
When Mayer committed to Purdue in April, the Boilermakers quickly became one of the favorites to win the national championship in 2026. Those believes were only strengthened after Purdue's first practice of the summer, when senior forward Trey Kaufman-Renn talked about the rumors.
Because of the FIBA World Cup, Mayer has not yet been on Purdue's campus to practice with the 2025-26 team. But Kaufman-Renn is excited for the chance to work with his new teammate. The reason why? Assistant coach PJ Thompson has already compared the Israeli guard to senior guard Braden Smith.
"PJ said he's kind of like Braden (Smith), but a little bit taller," Kaufman-Renn said with a laugh. "If that's the description that you give a player, I don't think there's anybody that can beat us if that's the case."
That's a pretty high bar to meet, but Mayer has performed extremely well in the FIBA World Cup. Plenty of Purdue fans are already excited to see the guard wearing the black-and-gold uniform later this year.
Related stories on Purdue basketball
ERTEL CLIMBS IN ESPN RECRUITING RANKINGS: Future Purdue guard Luke Ertel has climbed into ESPN's top-100 recruiting rankings for the 2026 class. Here's where the Mt. Vernon standout ranks. CLICK HERE
HOW JACOBSEN PERFORMED VS. CANADA: USA won a thriller over Canada to advance to the semifinal round of the FIBA U19 World Cup. A recap of how Purdue center Daniel Jacobsen performed. CLICK HERE
HOW OMER MAYER PLAYED VS. SLOVENIA: Led by Purdue guard Omer Mayer, Israel entered Friday's quarterfinal game against Slovenia in the FIBA U19 World Cup with a perfect 4-0 record. CLICK HERE
PURDUE BASKETBALL SUMMER HIGHLIGHTS: If you're starting to miss Purdue basketball, the social media team recently dropped a four-minute highlight video from the Boilermakers' summer practices. CLICK HERE
Dustin Schutte is the publisher of Purdue Boilermakers on SI and has spent more than a decade working in sports journalism. His career began in 2013, when he covered Big Ten football. He remained in that role for eight years before working at On SI to cover the Boilermakers. Dustin graduated from Manchester University in Indiana in 2010, where he played for the men's tennis team.
Follow SchutteDustin