'All of Our Guys Have Sacrificed': Matt Painter Talks Purdue's Ability to Retain Talent

Not many college basketball programs are as successful at retaining talent as Purdue. Although Matt Painter and his staff have dipped into the transfer portal at times over the years, the Boilermakers have found success by finding, developing, and keeping players. It doesn't come without sacrifice, though.

In today's world, anyone can enter the transfer portal for any reason. At the end of the 2024-25 campaign, Purdue saw four players leave — Will Berg, Brian Waddell, Camden Heide and Myles Colvin. Although the losses of Heide and Colvin were particularly significant, it didn't do much damage to the Boilers' returning production.

Purdue brings back 86% of its scoring from last year's squad, which finished 24-12 and reached the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Tournament. That's anchored by the return of Braden Smith, Trey Kaufman-Renn, and Fletcher Loyer. The Boilers are also bringing back Gicarri Harris, CJ Cox, Daniel Jacobsen, and Raleigh Burgess.

In an interview with Big Ten Network recently, Painter said any of those players could've easily walked out the door for a bag of cash, but decided to stay in West Lafayette.

"We've won at a high rate because of our players," Painter said. "All of our guys have sacrificed, whether it was returning guys, incoming guys — if you have a bunch of good players, it's hard to get them to their value, especially on the free market. All of our guys sacrificed, and all of them could have made more money at other places. Their numbers are still good (at Purdue), and our total numbers are really good."

That unselfishness also allowed Painter and his staff to recruit the transfer portal aggressively. As a result, Purdue landed 6-foot-11 center Oscar Cluff, who averaged 17.6 points and 12.3 rebounds per game at South Dakota State last season. The Boilermakers also added Liam Murphy to the roster, a 6-foot-7 forward who hit the three-ball at a 42% clip at North Florida.

Purdue's returning talent mixed with incoming transfer portal skill has rocketed the team to No. 1 in multiple way-too-early rankings and has the Boilers tabbed as the favorites to win the national championship in 2026.

Smith, Kaufman-Renn, and Loyer will have the opportunity to win a third Big Ten regular season title and play in a second Final Four. It took a lot of hard work to get to that point, but it also took sacrifice.

"That's their legacy, their Purdue education, their Big Ten championships, hopefully another Final Four run," Painter said. "Now, it's something where they can come back to Purdue at all times, have their jerseys in the rafters, and that's pretty cool."