Purdue's Braden Smith gets massive honor ahead of 2025-26 season

Purdue Boilermakers star guard Braden Smith just very well may be the best player in college basketball heading into the 2025-26 season.

At the very least, the expectation is that as long as he's healthy, he'll have a chance to match or improve his stellar campaign from 2024-25. Smith, a 6-foot, 170-pound senior guard from Westfield, Ind., was an All-American last season who averaged 15.8 points, 8.7 assists and 4.5 rebounds per game. 

He notched 20-plus points in 12 regular-season games and knocked in 34 against Toledo and 31 on the road against Iowa. He averaged 12.3 points, 8.7 assists and 3.3 rebounds in the NCAA Tournament and was one of the main reasons Purdue made a run to the Sweet 16.

Braden Smith receives massive honor heading into new season

And now, heading into what should be his final season with the Boilermakers after a tremendous run over the past three seasons, Smith is being tabbed as a preseason All-American by the Associated Press. Not only is he an All-American, though, but he's a unanimous preseason All-American. He earned all 57 All-American votes from the AP media panel.