Matt Painter has run the most consistent program in the Big Ten over the last nine seasons. To show, Purdue claimed a top-five seed in every NCAA Tournament over that span. And they finished with a conference record of 12-6 or better in all but one season. Also, Painter has established College basketball betting continuity and development within his program. Especially at a time when the transfer portal has consumed entire teams. There’s a certain 7-4, two-time National Player of the Year who left the program this offseason. Still, internal development should pay off in filling the gaps.
2024-25 Purdue Boilermakers Basketball Preview
| Purdue Boilermakers | Odds |
|---|---|
| National Championship Odds: | +5000 |
2024-25 Purdue Boilermakers Basketball Outlook
With no incoming transfers for Purdue, We’ll get the list of outgoing players out of the way at the start of this offshore betting preview. Of course, the aforementioned Zach Edey (25 ppg, 12 rpg) is the single greatest loss any team suffered this offseason. He was coming off of two dominant NPOY campaigns. Additionally, Edey, seniors Lance Jones (12 ppg), Mason Gillis (7 ppg, 4 rpg), and Ethan Morton (1 ppg) all left the program.
Naturally, Edey’s departure hurts the number of open threes and easy assists for Smith. Still, we think he’s a highly talented guard who has had two full years of experience at Purdue. The shouts for Preseason Big Ten Player of the Year are more than warranted for Smith. Hence, gamblers are excited to see if he can become more of a scorer with Edey out of the picture. This team will rely on Smith heavily, but it’ll be up to the guys around him to lift this team’s ceiling.
Namely, Fletcher Loyer (10 ppg) is the most prominent guy surrounding Smith. He is a fellow junior and two-year starter in the backcourt. Loyer broke out as an efficient three-point shooter (44.4% 3P) as a sophomore. But the rest of his game didn’t make the jump that many thought it would. Now, with two full NCAABB betting years under his belt, there will be real pressure on Loyer to step up and be the right-hand man to Smith in the backcourt.
Alongside Smith and Loyer, sophomore Myles Colvin (3 ppg) returns in the backcourt. Correlate that was after a promising freshman campaign. Likely being catapulted into a starting role, Colvin will have a lot more on his plate as a sophomore. The promising aspect is once again his shooting, with Colvin hitting 41.4% of his three-point attempts last season.
In like manner, the Boilermakers’ frontcourt has a fair number of returners as well, highlighted by junior forward Trey Kaufman-Renn (6 ppg, 4 rpg). Previously, Kaufmann-Renn started all 39 games for the Boilermakers last season. Thus, he should now be the focal point of the Boilermakers’ front court with Zach Edey gone.
Last season, Camden Heide (3 ppg) was another promising freshman. He appeared off the bench in all 39 games and was an efficient shooter from the field. Heide will likely be the fifth starter for the Boilermakers. Accordingly, he was earning the nod over senior forward Caleb Furst (2 ppg). Furst had been pegged for a breakout year in each of the previous two offseason. But things never fell his way in the front court.
Will Berg (3 ppg), a sophomore Swedish center who stands at 7-2. In turn, he could fill the physical void left by Edey. But he is probably a year away from having a fraction of the impact that Edey had the past two seasons.