Purdue Is No. 1 In Preseason AP Men’s Basketball Poll For First Time
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Purdue guard Braden Smith (3) plays against Wisconsin during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in West Lafayette, Ind., Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy) Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. During his time at Purdue, center Zach Edey became the first man in more than 40 years to win consecutive national player of the year honors. He also led the Boilermakers to the NCAA tournament championship game in 2024, the first time since 1980 that Purdue had made the Final Four. When Edey departed two years ago, Purdue was supposed to rebuild. Instead, the Boilermakers are arguably better than ever. On Monday, Purdue was first in the Associated Press preseason poll for the first time in school history, another reminder of the job that coach Matt Painter has done in making the Boilermakers a consistent top program. Purdue was ranked No. 1 in the AP poll for the first time in school history in December 2021 and also reached the top spot in each of the next two seasons. But before Monday, the Boilermakers’ highest preseason ranking was second in 1987. The Boilermakers return point guard Braden Smith, a first team AP All-American last season, as well as three other starters in forward Trey Kaufman-Renn (team-high 20.1 points and 6.5 rebounds per game last season) and guard Fletcher Loyer (13.8 points per game) and C.J. Cox (6.0 points per game). Purdue should also have a strong frontcourt with the return of 7-foot-4 center Daniel Jacobsen, who missed all but two games last season due to an injury, and the addition of transfer Oscar Cluff, a 6-foot-11 center from Australia who averaged 17.6 points and 12.3 rebounds (second in Division I) last season at South Dakota State. In addition, the Boilermakers signed Omer Mayer,…
