Purdue Basketball Star Launching New Podcast

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What is it like to be a star point guard in college basketball? Fans will soon get a chance to understand what life is like for Purdue senior Braden Smith on a new level.
On Friday, Sleepers Media announced the launch of a new podcast featuring Smith as the host. The name of the show will be titled Running Point with Braden Smith. The new podcast will launch next week, the same week the 2025-26 college basketball season begins.
The podcast will be a weekly show featured on the Sleepers Media YouTube channel. Smith will serve as the host, and the program will have special guests throughout the season.
No specific date was provided regarding the launch of the podcast.
Coming soon on @SleepersMedia
— Sleepers Media 💤🏀 (@SleepersMedia) October 31, 2025
“Running Point, with Braden Smith”
A weekly podcast featuring @3bradensmith and special guests on the Sleepers channel
First episode drops next week - follow @PodRunningPoint for updates pic.twitter.com/RXT1MUNt6i
Not only will Smith be able to talk basketball, but fans will likely get a glimpse of what life is like for a star point guard in college basketball.
Smith is entering his senior season with the Boilermakers and was last year's Big Ten Player of the Year after averaging 15.8 points, 8.7 assists, 4.5 rebounds, and 2.2 steals per game. He is one of the favorites to win the National Player of the Year award at the end of the season.
Next week pic.twitter.com/ZuR2zB3Zyb
— Running Point with Braden Smith (@PodRunningPoint) October 31, 2025
Fans can also follow along as Smith chases the NCAA assist record, which is currently held by former Duke star Bobby Hurley. The Purdue guard needs 319 assists to pass Hurley's mark, currently set at 1,076 assists.
That should be another fun aspect to this journey.
Purdue tips off the regular season on Tuesday, Nov. 4, hosting Evansville at Mackey Arena. Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m. ET, and the game will air on Big Ten Network.
Smith returned to win a national title
Smith has the chance to win a lot of individual awards and break NCAA records, but none of that is why he chose to return to West Lafayette for his senior season. Yes, it would be great to see the guard accomplish those feats, but he ultimately just wants to win.
"It doesn't matter a lot to me. Preseason awards, I said it this time last year, it doesn't matter," Smith said at Big Ten Media Days. "What matters is at the end of the year. What matters to me is being the team that wins a national championship at Purdue.
"Winning National Player of the Year, yeah, it's awesome, but those memories of winning a national championship are more important than that."

Smith acknowledged that he wants to play well enough to be considered the best player in the country. He wants to break the all-time assist record. Yes, he wants to be remembered as one of the all-time greats.
But if it doesn't happened and Purdue still wins a title, his mission will be accomplished.
"Obviously, that's a goal individually. That's your goal, what you want to do, what you want to accomplish at that level," Smith said. "My goal is to get the National Player of the Year, is to break the all-time assist record. Yeah, those are goals for me.
"But at the end of the day, I would be willing to give up all of that just to win a national championship with this group of guys, this coaching staff, and this team. This is why we all decided to come back and play here."
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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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