College Hoops Season 2025-26

[KnowTheScore]

I know this is over a month before the season starts, but some exhibitions are starting in a few weeks, so I figured it would be an acceptable time to start the college basketball thread for the 2025-26 season.

At a high level, this season has several highly ranked teams with a fair number of expected White contributors. Purdue, UConn, Illinois, Wisconsin, Creighton, Florida, and Iowa State are all expected to be ranked in the preseason top 25, and I would consider all White-friendly for the year…some more so than others. As per usual, many of the top mid-majors will be White-friendly, such as Illinois State, Belmont, Northern Iowa, and Miami Ohio. There are also several low majors that look to be very White Friendly. Out of all of the rosters I have seen (not all of them to be fair), Purdue, Idaho State, and St. Thomas all look to have the most Whites at 13 each.

I am not sure if anyone else has noticed this but the combination of the transfer portal and the increase in popularity in foreign players have both really helped White numbers on rosters. Although it ultimately comes down to the 8 or so who will regularly play (out of all of those on a 15-16 man roster), many teams have more Whites than I remember seeing in past seasons. For example, UL Monroe (hardly a White friendly team historically) will actually have a majority White roster this season. Same with Oral Roberts. I am sure there are a few other examples out there as well.

I think it would be a good idea if we did a brief write-up on some of our top rooting options this season (I will certainly help with a few of them).

 

[KnowTheScore]

Purdue Boilermakers

Last Season: 24-12, lost on a buzzer beater in the Sweet 16

Purdue will start the season as either the highest or second highest ranked team in the country per the major polls. They will also be our best rooting option for the season as they roster 13 Whites (including an Israeli freshmen) and will play many of them. Look for the Boilermakers to start 3 Whites while also playing several more off of the bench.

Purdue is led by Indiana native Braden Smith, a senior, undersized (6-0) point guard who is clearly one of the top players in the country. Smith “overcame” his lack of attention coming out of high school (Purdue, App State, Montana, and Toledo were only offers) by starting every game for the Boilermakers since his true freshman year, in addition to winning Big 10 Player of the Year last season. Smith has a great chance at winning the national player of the year award. He really is one of the most exciting players to watch in the nation!

Last Season Stats: 15.8 PPG, 42.8% FG, 38.1% 3PT, 8.7 APG, 3.0 TOPG, 4.5 RPG (second leading rebounder on team), 2.2 steals per game

Joining Smith in the backcourt is fellow White and Indiana native Fletcher Loyer. Loyer is also a senior and has also started every game he has ever played in for Purdue. He is one of the top shooters in the nation and will be an important player once again this season. I think a realistic expectation for this season would be 1st or 2nd team all Big10 (2nd team is probably more likely)

Last Season Stats: 13.8 PPG, 46.5% FG, 44.4% 3PT, 1.8 AST, 1.2 TO

Purdue will have at least one more White starting this season and that is likely to be Aussie big man Oscar Cluff. Cluff, a transfer from South Dakota State and Washington State, was a highly regarded portal addition for Matt Painter. He is a 6-11 center who averaged 17.6 points per game for South Dakota State last season. Note: Contrary to the photo, Cluff will wear number 45 for Purdue this year.

Reserves: Purdue also has several Whites who will see time off the bench. The first of these is center Daniel Jacobsen, a 7 foot 4 big man from Chicago. Jacobsen (2nd-year in program) started two games for Purdue last year before enduring a season-ending injury, so he will still be a freshman due to the medical redshirt. I imagine that Cluff will start and Jacobsen will come off the bench. Purdue will also have Omer Mayer, an Israeli freshman, available off of the bench. Mayer played in two EuroBasket tournaments for Israel this summer (U19 and U20) and put up great numbers in each. In the U19 tourney, he averaged 20 PPG while also swiping 2 steals a game. In the U20 tourney, he averaged 16.7 PPG as well as 5.1 APG. Look for veteran North Florida transfer Liam Murphy (a 6-7 wing) to come in and make some threes off of the bench as he shot 42.3% from deep last year on high volume. He is not mentioned on many previews, but some on Twitter have mentioned the possibility of Jack Benter, a 6-6, redshirt freshmen guard, getting minutes. Purdue has a bit of a logjam in the backcourt as there are so many talented options (and Smith won’t come off the floor very much), so Benter probably won’t play a ton, but still wanted to put the information out there.

Non-White Players: In the interest of being fair, Purdue does have several solid non-white players this season. Senior power forward Trey Kaufman-Renn is the most notable and has a good chance at being an All-American this season. Although Smith will still be the team’s best player and overall leader, there is a decent chance Kaufman-Renn will lead the team in scoring this season. Realistically, if Purdue wants to make the final four this season, they will need Renn to have a great year. Look for second year guard CJ Cox to also start for the Boilermakers and to play some great defense.

Overall Ceiling: National Champions

 

[Freethinker]

Great initiative and write up. Purdue under Matt Painter has become the modern day Duke or Gonzaga. A powerhouse major program that utilizes under-recruited White talent. Both of those programs left a major void when they started chasing all of the 5 stars exclusively.

I’ll certainly contribute but not until it gets closer to the season start. I’m too caught up in football and baseball at the moment.

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

i echo Freethinker’s thoughts. well done! and i will also be happy to contribute closer to tip-off.