Matt Painter Talks Caleb Furst's Success at Purdue, Ability to Handle Adversity

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — On Tuesday night, Caleb Furst will step onto the floor at Mackey Arena for the final time in a Purdue uniform. The senior forward's journey in West Lafayette is coming to a conclusion, and it had plenty of twists and turns along the way.

Furst has had a unique career at Purdue. He was a significant contributor in his first two seasons, starting in 33 games across his freshman and sophomore campaigns from 2021-23. Then, in the 2023-24 season, the Fort Wayne, Ind. native saw his playing time diminish — a result of Zach Edey's return and the rise in the play from Mason Gillis and Trey Kaufman-Renn.

Fast forward to the 2024-25 campaign, and Furst began the year as a bench player. But in January, he earned a spot in the starting rotation again and became a key piece to Purdue's success this season, helping the Boilermakers win 11 times in a 12-game stretch from late December through early February.

In today's era of college basketball, it would have been easy for Furst to enter the transfer portal and look for opportunities elsewhere. Instead, he decided to stay the course. It wasn't always easy, but it was the type of situation that coach Matt Painter believes will help later in life.

"It's been difficult, I think, from a personal level because his minutes have been up, they've been down, they've been up, they've been down and back up again," Painter said. "That piece can really help you in your life because you're dealing with some adversity, but then you see the bigger purpose of things — your team is winning, you're trying to win championships, trying to be as successful as you can be."

As a result of his perseverance, Furst will leave Purdue as the winningest player in program history. The Boilermakers have won 112 games (and counting) with Furst wearing a gold-and-black uniform. They've won a pair of Big Ten regular season titles, a Big Ten Tournament championship and reached the NCAA Tournament in each of his first three seasons — another March Madness trip is on the horizon.

Last year, Purdue reached the National Championship Game.

It was never just about playing time for Furst. He wanted to be a contributor to a winning program, something he's done during his four-year career in West Lafayette. But there's also an academic element to his decision to stay.

Furst is studying biomedical health sciences at Purdue and has plans to pursue a career in the medical field. He's often said his "purpose is bigger than basketball," another major reason why he didn't turn and run at the first sign of adversity.

As a result of Furst's persistence, he'll not only be recognized as the lone senior on Tuesday night following Purdue's game against Rutgers, he'll be celebrated as the winningest player in Boilermaker history.

"He's the quintessential student-athlete, but he's also somebody that has had more success than anybody ever who's played at Purdue. He's got the most wins in the history of Purdue," Painter said.

"That's a pretty cool thing, to be able to have that kind of success on the court and off the court."

How to watch Purdue basketball

HOW TO WATCH PURDUE-RUTGERS: Purdue will host Rutgers on Tuesday night for Senior Day at Mackey Arena. TV and radio information, key stats, top players and more for this Big Ten clash. CLICK HERE

BIG TEN BASKETBALL POWER RANKINGS: Michigan State is soaring towards another Big Ten title, posting an impressive pair of wins over Maryland and Wisconsin last week. CLICK HERE

UPDATE ON FORMER PURDUE PLAYERS: Four former Purdue basketball players are playing college basketball elsewhere. Here are updates on Ethan Morton, Mason Gillis, Chase Martin and Brandon Newman. CLICK HERE