Odds for Purdue's Braden Smith, Trey Kaufman-Renn to Win 2026 Wooden Award Revealed
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There's a strong chance that the Wooden Award is headed to West Lafayette for a third time in the last four years. Purdue guard Braden Smith is the odds-on favorite to win the prestigious award at the end of the 2025-26 college basketball season. His teammate, forward Trey Kaufman-Renn, isn't too far down on the list, either.
Earlier this month, DraftKings released the odds for the 2026 Wooden Award, an honor presented to the top player in college basketball each season. Smith was at the top of the list, sitting at plus-500 to take home the prestigious award. Kaufman-Renn had the fifth-best odds at plus-1800.
Should one of those two win the Wooden Award, it would mark the third time since the 2022-23 season that a Purdue player has claimed the honor. Former Boilermakers center Zach Edey was a two-time winner of the award, receiving it in 2023 and 2024.
Last year, Duke superstar Cooper Flagg was the winner of the Wooden Award.
Smith and Kaufman-Renn have the best odds, but senior guard Fletcher Loyer is also on the list. The sharpshooter is one of nine players at plus-10000 odds to claim the Wooden Award.
Smith was the Big Ten Player of the Year, the Bob Cousy Award winner, and received first-team All-Big Ten and All-American honors. Trey Kaufman-Renn was also a first-team All-Big Ten selection and earned third-team All-American honors. Loyer was an All-Big Ten honorable mention.
All three ended their junior seasons as members of Purdue's 1,000-point club and are hoping to add another Big Ten championship and Final Four appearance to their list of accomplishments.
Top 10 odds to win 2026 Wooden Award via DraftKings
- Braden Smith, Purdue — plus-500
- JT Toppin, Texas Tech — plus-750
- Yaxel Lendeborg, Michigan — plus-1000
- AJ Dybantsa, BYU — plus-1200
- Trey Kaufman-Renn, Purdue — plus-1800
- Darryn Peterson, Kansas — plus-2000
- Darrion Williams, North Carolina State — plus-2000
- Donovan Dent, UCLA — plus-2500
- Boogie Fland, Florida — plus-2500
- Solo Ball, UConn — plus-2500
- Otega Oweh, Kentucky — plus-2500
Stats for Smith, Kaufman-Renn and Loyer in 2024-25
Braden Smith
- 15.8 points per game
- 8.7 assists per game
- 4.5 rebounds per game
- 42.8% FG
- 38.1% 3-pt FG
- 83.3% FT
Trey Kaumfan-Renn
- 20.1 points per game
- 6.5 rebounds per game
- 2.2 assists per game
- 59.5% FG
- 64.8% FT
Fletcher Loyer
- 13.8 points per game
- 2.1 rebounds per game
- 1.8 assists per game
- 46.5% FG
- 44.4% 3-pt FG
- 84.8% FT
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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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