No, This Season Isn't 'Now or Never' For Purdue Basketball's Championship Hopes
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Take a quick social media poll and you might believe Purdue is walking a tightrope across the Grand Canyon. Make it across the wire, and a national championship trophy greets the Boilermakers. One misstep along the journey and it's ... well, you know.
It's a good thing a college basketball season isn't a circus act and Matt Painter isn't Nik Wallenda. Despite what some might say, this isn't a do-or-die situation for Purdue basketball.
As the 2025-26 season nears, there's a narrative swirling that it's "now or never" for Painter and the Boilermakers. If Purdue can't win a championship with the most talented roster it's had, then it's never going to happen.
Not to quote Deion Sanders too much, but that sounds like "bull junk."
It is true — this is the best roster constructed under Painter. The Boilermakers return Big Ten Player of the Year Braden Smith, first-team All-Big Ten selection Trey Kaufman-Renn, and two-time All-Big Ten honorable mention Fletcher Loyer. That's a trio that has spent its entire career in West Lafayette and a core capable of leading a program to a Final Four.
Rejoining that trio are sophomore guards CJ Cox and Gicarri Harris, both making big impacts as freshmen during the 2024-25 campaign. Plus, 7-foot-4 center Daniel Jacobsen returns from injury, providing the Boilers with the rim protection they desperately missed a year ago.
Purdue made championship moves in the offseason, too. Painter brought in 6-foot-11 center Oscar Cluff from South Dakota State to address the team's lackluster rebounding ability from last season. The Boilermakers also brought in international guard Omer Mayer, an NBA-caliber prospect with EuroLeague experience.
If this was a tight-roping journey, the combination of depth, experience and skill would serve as Painter's balancing pole.
Without question, Purdue has a lot working in its favor this year, especially on paper. But that doesn't mean the Boilermakers can't slip up, though. If that does happen and they fall short of reaching their ultimate goal, it's hardly the end of the program's chance to win a national championship.
This isn't a tightrope walk, after all.
We've heard these things before about Purdue
There's no argument that Purdue's roster is assembled to bring a championship to West Lafayette. Even Painter believes this team is the one with the best chance to win a national title.
"I think we have enough firepower this year," Painter told Jon Rothstein on the Inside College Basketball Now podcast. "We have to get some breaks, we have to play well, we have to defend and rebound, all of those things. But we feel good about going into the season."
Nobody is denying that claim. The idea, though, that Purdue's program will crumble and never get another bite at the apple, is an absurd claim. It's a notion we've heard before, too.
Program your time machine to the late 2000s and early 2010s and travel back in time when Purdue had Robbie Hummel, E'Twaun Moore, JaJuan Johnson, Chris Kramer, and others. During that stretch from 2009-11, The Boilers were considered among the best teams in college basketball.
"If Painter couldn't lead that group to a Final Four, will it ever happen?"
Obviously, Hummel's knee injuries were factors in both the 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons, but the narrative was still floating around. Purdue couldn't get its most talented teams to the Final Four, so the future looked bleak.
Now, fast forward to the 2023-24 season when Zach Edey returned for his senior season after winning National Player of the Year honors. The Boilermakers returned Smith, Loyer, Kaufman-Renn, Mason Gillis, and brought in Lance Jones from the transfer portal.
"If that team couldn't win a national championship, it's never going to be on the table for the Boilers."
The Boilermakers ended that season with a 34-5 record, winning a Big Ten title and reaching the National Championship Game before falling to UConn. It was a tremendous season, reaching the Final Four for the first time since 1980, but still short of expectations.
Despite those shortcomings in 2010, 2011, and 2024, Purdue finds itself in a favorable position heading into the 2025-26 season. It is, in fact, the best starting spot in program history for the Boilermakers.
Painter has established the most stable program in college basketball, one that is built on honesty, development, and hard work. That's why, year after year, Purdue is a contender to win the Big Ten and a threat to make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament.
Yes, if Purdue falls short of winning a national championship this year, it will feel like a disappointment to everyone inside the locker room. It's a goal Smith, Loyer, and Kaufman-Renn set out to achieve, and this is their last opportunity to leave an ultimate mark on the program.
As for Painter and Purdue, though, this isn't the 1998 Chicago Bulls and "The Last Dance." This isn't a tightrope walk across the Grand Canyon. Stumbling and falling short of the finish line won't mark the end of days for the Boilermakers.
Purdue is a program built for long-term success. As long as Painter is in charge, the Boilermakers are always a contender.
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FINAL FOUR TIPOFF TIMES ANNOUNCED: The NCAA has announced tipoff times for the 2026 Final Four and National Championship Game. Purdue fans should make a note of the updates. 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.
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