ESPN College Basketball Analyst Grades Purdue's 2024-25 Season
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The reviews of Purdue's 2024-25 season are a mixed bag. The Boilermakers finished with a 24-12 record and reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. Yet they were preseason favorites to win the Big Ten and fell short of the goal. So, what's an accurate grade for the team's performance last season?
ESPN college basketball analyst Myron Medcalf recently provided grades for all 18 teams in the Big Ten. He settled on a "B" for Purdue — one of four teams to receive that mark.
Medcalf was impressed with how Purdue played despite losing two-time National Player of the Year Zach Edey, as well as Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year Mason Gillis and starting guard Lance Jones from the 2023-24 squad.
However, Medcalf also acknowledged that Purdue fell short of expectations, failing to win a third straight Big Ten title, despite receiving preseason votes to claim the league championship.
"For just the second time in college basketball history, a team had to regroup after losing a back-to-back Wooden Award winner. Zach Edey had been the anchor of a Purdue team that reached the national championship game in 2024, but with Braden Smith as the new leader of the program, becoming the third straight Boilermaker to win Big Ten Player of the Year," Medcalf wrote. "Trey Kaufman-Renn (20.1 PPG, 6.5 RPG) also stood out as one of the nation's top big men for a 24-win Purdue team that reached the Sweet 16.
"Still, the Boilermakers finished in a tie for fourth after opening the season with the highest ranking among Big Ten teams in the AP's preseason poll (14th) and being picked to win the conference crown in one media poll."
There is already plenty of preseason hype for the Boilers entering the 2025-26 season, with several media outlets tabbing them as the No. 1 team in the country. Purdue returns Smith, Kaufman-Renn and Fletcher Loyer, all multi-year starters in West Lafayette. Also returning are Gicarri Harris, CJ Cox, Raleigh Burgess and Daniel Jacobsen.
Additionally, Purdue landed Oscar Cluff and Liam Murphy from the transfer portal and bring in Omer Mayer and Antione West Jr. as members of the 2025 recruiting class. The expectation, already, is for the Boilermakers to win another Big Ten title and play in another Final Four.
Maybe Purdue did fall somewhat short of expectations last season, but next year's squad is already primed for a deep NCAA Tournament run.
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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.
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