What Matt Painter Said About Braden Smith Breaking the Big Ten's Assist Record
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Matt Painter is still surprised by it. When he offered Braden Smith out of Westfield High School as a member of the 2022 recruiting class, the 6-foot point guard had no other scholarship opportunities at the high-major level. Fast forward four years, and he's the Big Ten's all-time assist leader.
Smith made conference history on Saturday night in Madison. With a 12-assist performance in Purdue's 89-73 victory over Wisconsin at the Kohl Center, he passed Michigan State's Cassius Winston in career assists in the Big Ten.
The senior guard now has 893 career assists and is among the top 20 in NCAA history.
"He's special, he's elite. It's what a lot of people who want to go past college and be a professional, what do you do great on a professional level?" Painter said after the game. "He passes better than anybody in college basketball. It's amazing he didn't have another high-major offer, because he's a winner."
The Big Ten is a league that is home to some of the all-time greats in college basketball. Smith is atop the assist leaderboard in a conference that has been home to Mateen Cleaves, Scott Skiles, Magic Johnson, Dee Brown, and Bruce Douglas.
Smith's ability to break that record with over half a season remaining proves how impactful he's been since arriving on Purdue's campus in 2022.
"It's a very historical league. You look back for a long, long time, there have been a lot of great players, a lot of great players at that position," Painter said. "To break that record and still have 17 Big Ten games and the Big Ten Tournament and the NCAA Tournament in front of you, it speaks volumes to what he's been able to accomplish."
Painter calls it a 'team record'
What Smit has been able to do in his four seasons in West Lafayette is historic. There's no question that it's one of the greatest individual accomplishments in the history of the Big Ten.
After the game, though, Painter wanted to point out that Smith has also gotten a lot of help from his teammates over the years. Having players who shoot at a high level has been a big part of the guard's success.
"We've also had people who can make shots, too," Painter said. "He understands that point of it. If you're out there by yourself and can really pass and you're with a bunch of spazzes who can't really shoot, you're not going to get that record. So, it's a great individual record, but it's also a great team record."
Smith has been alongside Trey Kaufman-Renn and Fletcher Loyer throughout his career. He's also played with Zach Edey, Lance Jones, and Mason Gillis. Even youngsters like Gicarri Harris and CJ Cox have made a big splash, surrounding the guard with even more talented shooters.
Yes, Smith deserves all the credit for rewriting the Big Ten's record books over the years. But his teammates have also played a major role in his success.
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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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