Purdue Coach Matt Painter Discusses Decision to Redshirt Freshman Forward Trey Kaufman-Renn

Redshirts aren’t an uncommon sight for Purdue basketball under coach Matt Painter. Senior Sasha Stefanovic, a starter in the team’s 96-67 victory over Bellarmine on Tuesday, and sophomores Mason Gillis and Brandon Newman each sat a year before emerging as key contributors.

Before the Boilermakers opened their season in front of a sold-out crowd at Mackey Arena, it was announced that forwards Brian Waddle and, more surprisingly, Trey Kaufman-Renn would both redshirt for their freshman seasons.

The decision for Kaufman-Renn to sit out and return next season with a full four years of eligibility came as a result of mutual discussions between himself and Painter. The 6-foot-9 freshman out of Silver Creek High School in Sellersburg, Indiana, understood the depth Purdue has on this year’s team.

That depth will only increase as Gillis returns from suspension after the team’s first four regular season games. Senior Trevion Williams and sophomore Zach Edey are mainstays in the frontcourt, and fellow freshman Caleb Furst has emerged as a starter to begin the season.

“It’s close. This could go either way,” Painter said. “He's one of those guys that could absolutely be out of the rotation for two to three weeks, then start for us, or be the backup. Like, he could be there, but we're struggling in some areas defensively, and we're struggling in some areas of just kind of knowledge of what's going on. Because it's hard to pick up everything that we do.

“And now, as he comes back, Mason has a little bit more of that experience. Obviously, Caleb is playing well, you see the impact Trevion can make in a game. And obviously Zach is a really tough cover. I was just trying to educate him to the best of my ability about the pros and the cons, and then let him make that decision.”

Painter did not discuss the option of redshirting before the team’s scrimmage against Providence or the team’s exhibition matchup with UIndy. The 17-year head coach knows better than to bear down on his players with unneeded pressure.

He said he wants players to concentrate on bettering themselves and to play well in order to put themselves in a great position to be at their best. But when that wasn’t working exactly as planned for Kaufman-Renn, it was time to discuss taking a redshirt year.

But if the freshman would have decided to fight for minutes this season, Painter wouldn’t have rejected the request. Instead, Kaufman-Renn decided he will use this season to better himself and help the team in any way he can next year.

“Sometimes making the best decision for yourself when you don't want to is really hard to do, because you want to play," Painter said. "Who doesn't want to play? And it was very close. And obviously we have a loaded front line right there. So I thought he made a really mature decision. If he would have decided to play, out of support, I wouldn't have talked him out of that.”