Purdue Basketball Adds Fort Wayne Trip to Exhibition Schedule
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Purdue has added a third exhibition game to its 2026-27 schedule. On Tuesday, the program announced that it will play a game against Purdue Fort Wayne on Oct. 22.
For this exhibition matchup, the Boilermakers will travel to Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne. This will be the second away game Matt Painter's team will play in the exhibition portion of the schedule.
On Oct. 27, Purdue will head to the East Coast to play UConn in a rematch of the 2024 National Championship Game. A site has not been announced for that game yet. The Boilermakers' lone home exhibition game is scheduled for Oct. 18 against in-state foe Ball State.
Painter is a proponent of scheduling tough exhibition games away from Mackey Arena to prepare his team for the regular season. Although Purdue Fort Wayne isn't a power program, it does give the Boilermakers an opportunity to prepare for a road environment.
This is also the first time the Boilermakers have scheduled three exhibition games in a single season, taking full advantage of the change in the NCAA rules.
Ticket and broadcast information regarding Purdue's matchup against Purdue Fort Wayne will be announced at a later date.
With Tuesday's announcement, Purdue now has just one missing piece to find for its 2026-27 schedule to be complete. The Boilermakers are still awaiting an opponent for the Indy Classic, set for Dec. 19. All other non-conference and exhibition games have been announced.
Purdue preparing for a new era
It's no secret that Purdue is ushering in a new era with Braden Smith, Trey Kaufman-Renn and Fletcher Loyer all departing. There are some major shoes to fill in West Lafayette. In order to move on, Painter wants to give his players as much preparation as possible before the regular season arrives.
Adding a third exhibition games — one away from Mackey Arena — provides the Boilermakers with another opportunity to work on developiong team chemistry and shaking off the rust before the season tips off in Las Vegas on Nov. 2.
But Purdue's preparations begin long before the exhibition season. Not only are the Boilermakers working hard during summer practice, but they're also reportedly heading to Canada at the end of July to play four games.
That international trip will allow new and returning players to developing chemistry on and off the court. Although the Boilers return 10 players from last year, their are five newcomers who are looking to carve out roles for themselves quickly.
This is already shaping up to be one of the most interesting offseasons in West Lafayette in recent memory.
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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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