Purdue Coach Matt Painter Makes Braden Smith's Case for Big Ten Player of the Year

On Friday night, Braden Smith had one last game to make his case for Big Ten Player of the Year. Even though Purdue dropped an 88-80 decision to Illinois in Champaign to close the season, the junior guard had an outstanding performance.

Smith finished the game with 18 points, 12 assists, nine rebounds and a steal in Friday's game, which closed out the regular season. The Boilermakers closed out Big Ten play with a 13-7 record and will enter the Big Ten Tournament at 21-10 overall.

After the game, Purdue coach Matt Painter was asked about Smith's chances of winning the Big Ten Player of the Year award, an honor that his former teammate, Zach Edey, won in back-to-back seasons. Painter made a strong case for his guard.

"He's been great. In my opinion, he's the best player in this league," Painter said Friday. "They call it the Most Valuable Player, right? He's pretty valuable. Who rebounds like him? Who gets assists like him? Who scores like him? Leads the league in steals or he's second in steals. He's pretty good. He's pretty good. For a guy who had one high-major offer, he's damn good. I think he'll play 10 years in the NBA. I think he's fabulous.

"He affects winning. We get away from that, we look at different things, but he affects winning on both ends of the court."

Smith was tabbed as the Preseason Big Ten Player of the Year and he's lived up to the hype. He's averaging 16.3 points, 8.8 assists, 4.7 rebounds and 2.3 steals per game. He's been named a finalist for the Bob Cousy Award, an honor presented to the top point guard in the sport.

The individual accolades aren't what fuel Smith, though. Since his arrival in West Lafayette, the guard has emphasized winning. The Boilers have had a strong season, but fell short of their regular season goals in 2024-25.

"He's a great player. He's very unselfish, he's a winner. I know he doesn't look at it that way. We're disappointed because we didn't win the Big Ten." Painter said. "He won the Big Ten his first two years, so we're all disappointed. Sometimes, when that happens, it's kind of hard to look at anything else because you're not really concerned with it. You're going to help your cause if you just keep winning."

Will Purdue be home to the Big Ten Player of the Year for a third straight season? We'll find out this coming week when the conference reveals the All-Big Ten teams and names the individual award winners.

Related stories on Purdue basketball