Former head coach Bruce Weber makes his feelings clear on Matt Painter's Purdue being "poised to have a really big year"

After the loss of influential star center Zach Edey to the NBA, Purdue coach Matt Painter led the Boilermakers to a 20-12 record last season. The Boilermakers fell narrowly 62-60 to eventual runners-up, the Houston Cougars, at the Sweet 16 stage of the 2025 NCAA Tournament.

Despite the Boilermakers' mixed season, during Tuesday's segment of the "Big Ten" network, former coach turned analyst Bruce Weber was high on Painter's team going into next season.

"When you have a point guard like Braden Smith and Trey Kaufman-Renn, a big guy, you're building a team with that point guard and big guy," Weber said. "There's no doubt you feel good about yourself, but you do have to have that mix in there. (Painter) was able to keep Fletcher Loyer, I think CJ Cox made a lot of improvement. He has Jacobsen, the freshman who redshirted last year, coming back.

"If he gets stronger — I saw him practice early last year, good skills for a big guy — it gives them more depth. And then ... they needed physicality and rebounding. (Oscar Cluff) had about 12 rebounds per game, that was a point of emphasis. Then they brought in Murphy from North Florida who gives them some athleticism to kind of replace Myles Colvin and (Camden) Heide."

In ESPN's way-too-early poll last week, the Boilermakers were also picked as the No. 1 team in the country after the spring portal closed.

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Purdue welcomes a strong roster for next season

The optimism surrounding the Purdue Boilermakers stems from the roster that will be available to coach Matt Painter next season. They will get key returning players including Wooden Award finalist Braden Smith, Fletcher Loyer and Trey Kaufman-Renn, CJ Cox and GicarrI Harris. They will also get back center Daniel Jacobsen who missed the whole of last season with a niggling injury.

Painter has also been active in the just-closed transfer portal acquiring sought-after South Dakota center Oscar Cluff and North Florida wing Liam Murphy to bolster the Boilermakers' roster. In addition, Purdue has secured the commitment of prospects Omer Mayer and Antoine Wset Jr. for the class of 2025.

To cement the feel-good factor around Purdue, ESPN analyst Joe Lunardi predicted on Monday that the Boilermakers would be a 1-seed and the top seed at the 2026 NCAA Tournament charting a charming path to the national championship game for Matt Painter's highly regarded team.