Purdue's roster will look significantly different in 2026-27 for longtime coach Matt Painter with stars Braden Smith, Trey Kaufman-Renn and Fletcher Loyer departing the program. Those three players helped Purdue reach new heights during their time with the Boilermakers, highlighted by a trip to the Final Four in 2024 and most recently, the school's seventh Elite Eight appearance this past season.
In the modern era of college basketball, keeping a core of that caliber together is rare. While the transfer portal and NIL reshaped the sport, Smith, Loyer and Kaufman-Renn stayed at Purdue amid the chaos and consistent change. That trio played 147 games together at Purdue and helped the program make its first appearance in the national title game in 55 years.
In an exclusive interview with CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein on Inside College Basketball Now, Painter opened up about the end of Purdue's season, which wrapped with a loss to Arizona in the Elite Eight, and whether that core left anything on the table.
"They gave their best," Painter said. "You leave stuff on the table sometimes when you don't have the right mix of guys that don't sacrifice or play as hard as they can. These guys sacrificed a lot. They played hard every day. They worked at it and gave everything they had. ... they did everything, man. They did everything for our program and did it first-class."
With those core players departing, new and familiar faces will be tasked with larger roles. The Boilermakers finished with the No. 16-ranked 2026 recruiting class in the 247Sports rankings, headlined by four-star guard Luke Ertel.
Purdue also welcomes in former Ivy League Player of the Year, Caden Pierce, who redshirted this past season. Pierce, who has 89 college starts under his belt and will be one of the most experienced players on the roster, is the younger brother of Indianapolis Colts star wide receiver, Alec Pierce.
The Boilermakers also return Omer Meyer, C.J. Cox and Daniel Jacobsen from last year's team that won 28 games and defeated Michigan in the Big Ten Tournament title game.
"Excited about it," Painter said on his roster. "We have a lot of young players. When you sit out there and look at our team, we have two seniors that we just signed. But I have 11 guys; if the five-for-five is what it is, that got 3-5 years. That's a big statement. Now, looking at that youthful team and growing with that, we definitely now have a chance to be much better on the ball defensively. We have some guys who can guard the basketball. We have some very versatile fours."
Purdue, ranked No. 21 in Gary Parrish's most recent Top 25 and 1, will be tested early this season with an opening night matchup against Gonzaga. The Boilermakers are also set to face Iowa State, Tennessee, Oklahoma and Colorado before Big Ten play begins.
