(2022) PG Braden Smith to Purdue

[Hoosierfan2017 21,328]

I just don't really see a need to rush an offer. I've seen a lot of people talk about how good his school season was, and his numbers definitely look good. But his school season ended on March 6th. We're now 2 days away from May. Purdue is still the only high-major school that has offered him a scholarship. Notre Dame hasn't offered. Ohio State hasn't. Iowa, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Minnesota, and Michigan State have not offered. Butler hasn't even offered. So, we're far from the only high-major school to be hesitant to pull the trigger. It seems like most are taking the wait and see approach. Even if he commits to Purdue and then explodes over the summer, he can't sign until November. Plenty of time for a flip. Right now we don't even have a scholarship available for CJ Gunn next year. Those things work themselves out, but we don't know how many scholarships we will have available and as the roster stands right now point guard isn't a position of need. 

[Certified Sunshine Pumper 9,095]

7 minutes ago, Hoosierfan2017 said:

I just don't really see a need to rush an offer. I've seen a lot of people talk about how good his school season was, and his numbers definitely look good. But his school season ended on March 6th. We're now 2 days away from May. Purdue is still the only high-major school that has offered him a scholarship. Notre Dame hasn't offered. Ohio State hasn't. Iowa, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Minnesota, and Michigan State have not offered. Butler hasn't even offered. So, we're far from the only high-major school to be hesitant to pull the trigger. It seems like most are taking the wait and see approach. Even if he commits to Purdue and then explodes over the summer, he can't sign until November. Plenty of time for a flip. Right now we don't even have a scholarship available for CJ Gunn next year. Those things work themselves out, but we don't know how many scholarships we will have available and as the roster stands right now point guard isn't a position of need. 

We have one PG that could potentially go pro, or even move on since this will be his 4th year on a campus. We don't have a PG after that. 

[Hoosierfan2017 21,328]

3 minutes ago, btownqb said:

We have one PG that could potentially go pro, or even move on since this will be his 4th year on a campus. We don't have a PG after that. 

We have Rob Phinisee, Xavier Johnson, and Khristian Lander on the roster. All three have at least one year of eligibility left after this upcoming season. Braden Smith isn't someone who is going to come in and start right away, so even if all three of the above guys leave we'd still need to bring in another point guard in addition to Smith. 

[Certified Sunshine Pumper 9,095]

24 minutes ago, Hoosierfan2017 said:

We have Rob Phinisee, Xavier Johnson, and Khristian Lander on the roster. All three have at least one year of eligibility left after this upcoming season. Braden Smith isn't someone who is going to come in and start right away, so even if all three of the above guys leave we'd still need to bring in another point guard in addition to Smith. 

I agree. It will just depend on XJ. He stays, add 1 FR.. he moves on, need a FR and transfer. I don't see RP and KL as options at this point in time. 

[lillurk 3,738]

Yes, this is no knock on Smith, but if he very badly wants to play at IU but then jumps at a PU offer within a week, before playing his last summer of AAU, how badly does he really want to go to IU?

And then of course there’s the discussion of the roster. I think you’ll have at least Lander for 22-23, and as stated above Phin and X will still have eligibility. Would Smith be ready for prime time as a sophomore, and a big role as a frosh?

Is he the only point guard in the whole class? The best one who you could legitimately add?

[Hoosierfan2017 21,328]

1 hour ago, lillurk said:

Yes, this is no knock on Smith, but if he very badly wants to play at IU but then jumps at a PU offer within a week, before playing his last summer of AAU, how badly does he really want to go to IU?

And then of course there’s the discussion of the roster. I think you’ll have at least Lander for 22-23, and as stated above Phin and X will still have eligibility. Would Smith be ready for prime time as a sophomore, and a big role as a frosh?

Is he the only point guard in the whole class? The best one who you could legitimately add?

I think Lander will be a lot better than what he showed last season. If he hadn't reclassified he'd be coming to a college campus as a 5 star recruit, and likely the top point guard in his class. Everything went wrong for him last year, from the coaching system to Covid hurting his preseason development. He came a year early and then didn't get the preseason training. If he doesn't look any better this year then ok, but I'm not writing him off at this point due to how weird of a year last year was.
 

Sometimes players are in bad situations and break out when they’re in new ones. Look at Johnny Juzang from UCLA. Top 40 recruit. He reclassified and headed to UK as a freshman. Played 12 mpg and averaged 2.9 ppg. He transfers to UCLA and leads them to a Final Four the very next year. Scores 29 points against Gonzaga. Some kids just reclassify when they shouldn’t. I think Lander falls into that category. I expect him to be a different player under Woody, and so I don’t think point guard is a big position of need. 

This is a kid I'd like to see us go after. Top 25 in his class, originally from Illinois and currently playing at La Lumiere. 2023 four-star PG Jeremy Fears seeing high major recruitment heat up (247sports.com)

There are tons of really good guards out there. I feel good about Coach Woodson being able to get one or two of them. I just really don't see a reason to take a gamble on Smith unless we strike out on our other options. He's not the level of recruit we should be targeting if we have national contender aspirations. Because I think Lander will be very good for us, I don’t think we need multiple point guards in this class. There are many point guards I’d rather us get than Smith in this class. 

[Class of '66 Old Fart 84,649]

Smith is an Indiana kid and there's a bit of an automatic bias to want him to play at IU because he is an Indiana kid.  Maybe he gets more high major offers and maybe he doesn't.  Luke Brown never did and there were a lot of people that really wanted him to wear the cream and crimson.

Maybe Smith blows up on the AAU circuit this summer and Matt Painter will look clairvoyant.  If it happens, it happens.  Right now, we have a number of offers out to other point guards that appear at this point in time to overall be markedly better than Smith.  If CMW doesn't extend an offer to Smith, I'm comfortable with that decision.

[Uspshoosier 45,621]

I would like to say this board has enough people that knows the importance of both high school ball and AAU.    We are at a point in time in college basketball where it’s no longer one or the other but necessary for high major recruits utilize both.  Maybe years ago AAU wasn’t as important as high school but no doubt in this age high level AAU circuits are just as important as high school.   Maybe lower level AAU isn’t but as someone that goes to a lot of high school games during the season and to a lot of summer events(high level) both are important.  College coaches refer to AAU events as resume builders.    Keep in mind during the high school year programs are only allowed a certain number of days they can be on the trail recruiting and are only allowed 7 contacts(I think)  with each recruit during the recruiting period.  Summer AAU doesn’t count against the numbers so coaches watch and have as much contact with these players during these events.  Summer AAU is a huge opportunity for these players to play in front of coaches.  
As far as Smith goes, Purdue and Painter are in a position where they can offer someone like Smith early and see how it plays out.  In some recruitments some teams offer to put pressure on another school to offer.   Not saying that’s the case here but it’s been done in the past.   We will know shortly if they accept his commitment if he tries.   I wouldn’t blame IUs staff if they chose not to offer because I don’t think they are in position to take a chance without evaluating him further.  Whether you watch him in high school or on his dads AAU team there are still questions that I would like answered if I was on the staff.  Good luck to him moving forward  

[btroesch14 22]

1. Indiana is going to be fine if Braden Smith commits to Purdue. Indiana hasn't even offered the kid a scholarship. Woodson has handed out plenty of offers the past couple of weeks, and if he doesn't think Braden is good enough then we should be very comfortable with that decision.

2. You can guys can say rankings don't matter and all this, but look at his offer list. Purdue, Montana, Appalachian State, Toledo, and Belmont have offered. That's one high major offer and 4 other low-mid majors. Butler hasn't even offered.

3. Just because a kid grew up a huge Indiana fan and dreaming of playing for Indiana, that doesn't qualify him for a scholarship offer. If you guys want to recruit players that grew up dreaming of playing at Indiana then that's how will trot out a lineup of Braden Smith, Anthony Leal, Trey Galloway, Luke Goode, etc. And that team will be Northwestern. Just simply not good enough.

4. AAU basketball is the best place for talent evaluation, much better than High School basketball. In AAU, the majority of players are high-mid major talents with the worst players still being low major players. In High School basketball, you have maybe 2 high-mid major players on a team. The talent levels, length of players, athleticism, etc. are completely different. What Braden Smith can do against 6 feet white kids is a whole lot different than what he can do against 6 foot 5 kids that have multiple Power 5 offers. That's why AAU is a much better place to evaluate kids than HS. 

5. I'll also say this. Some players can be High School phenoms, but they just don't project to be good high major basketball players. The same with college to the pros. TJD is a great college basketball player, but right now his game doesn't project to be an NBA player that is in the rotation regularly.

Edited April 29, 2021 by btroesch14

[Chris007 43,927]

5 minutes ago, btroesch14 said:

1. Indiana is going to be fine if Braden Smith commits to Purdue. Indiana hasn't even offered the kid a scholarship. Woodson has handed out plenty of offers the past couple of weeks, and if he doesn't think Braden is good enough then we should be very comfortable with that decision.

2. You can guys can say rankings don't matter and all this, but look at his offer list. Purdue, Montana, Appalachian State, Toledo, and Belmont have offered. That's one high major offer and 4 other low-mid majors. Butler hasn't even offered.

3. Just because a kid grew up a huge Indiana fan and dreaming of playing for Indiana, that doesn't qualify him for a scholarship offer. If you guys want to recruit players that grew up dreaming of playing at Indiana then that's how will trot out a lineup of Braden Smith, Anthony Leal, Trey Galloway, Luke Goode, etc. And that team will be Northwestern. Just simply not good enough.

4. AAU basketball is the best place for talent evaluation, much better than High School basketball. In AAU, the majority of players are high-mid major talents with the worst players still being low major players. In High School basketball, you have maybe 2 high-mid major players on a team. The talent levels, length of players, athleticism, etc. are completely different. What Braden Smith can do against 6 feet white kids is a whole lot different than what he can do against 6 foot 5 kids that have multiple Power 5 offers. That's why AAU is a much better place to evaluate kids than HS. 

5. I'll also say this. Some players can be High School phenoms, but they just don't project to be good high major basketball players. The same with college to the pros. TJD is a great college basketball player, but right now his game doesn't project to be an NBA player that is in the rotation regularly.

Or you can trot out a roster of Jaden Ivey, Brandon Newman, Mason Gillis, Caleb Furst, Trey Kauffman, and Braden Smith. I don't think that team will be Northwestern.

[Stuhoo 80,548]

Just now, Chris007 said:

Or you can trot out a roster of Jaden Ivey, Brandon Newman, Mason Gillis, Caleb Furst, Trey Kauffman, and Braden Smith. I don't think that team will be Northwestern.

Ivey and Smith are unlikely to play at Purdue at the same time.

A lineup of Smith, Newman, Gillis, Kaufman, and Furst doesn't seem nearly as appealing.

[Uspshoosier 45,621]

28 minutes ago, Chris007 said:

Or you can trot out a roster of Jaden Ivey, Brandon Newman, Mason Gillis, Caleb Furst, Trey Kauffman, and Braden Smith. I don't think that team will be Northwestern.

Projecting a roster 2 years down the road for any college basketball team would be a tough thing to do in my opinion with the new transfer rules in place  

[Hoosierfan2017 21,328]

33 minutes ago, Chris007 said:

Or you can trot out a roster of Jaden Ivey, Brandon Newman, Mason Gillis, Caleb Furst, Trey Kauffman, and Braden Smith. I don't think that team will be Northwestern.

Ivey was ranked #89 in his class, Furst is #56, and Kaufman is #34. They're why that team wouldn't be Northwestern. Replace them with guys of Leal and Galloway's caliber then they probably would be. Of the guys that @btroesch14 mentioned, Luke Goode was the only top 100 kid at #97. Leal and Galloway were #156 and #157 in their class, and Smith doesn't have a 247 composite ranking. I have no problem at all recruiting top 100ish in-state kids, but when we start getting deeper into classes than that it kind of feels like we're going after lower ranked kids because they're from Indiana. With the recruiting reach that our new staff has we shouldn't need to do that. We shouldn't need to be as regionally focused as Archie was. 

[ap2345 7,803]

37 minutes ago, Stuhoo said:

Ivey and Smith are unlikely to play at Purdue at the same time.

A lineup of Smith, Newman, Gillis, Kaufman, and Furst doesn't seem nearly as appealing.

Fletcher Loyer would be in that mix too. 

[Stuhoo 80,548]

14 minutes ago, ap2345 said:

Fletcher Loyer would be in that mix too. 

So would Thompson and a few others.

Painter better be careful, he is amassing a group of kids that do not appear to be “alpha dogs“.

When Ivey and Tre Williams depart he’s got some worries about a talent gap.

[Hoosierfan222 734]

I don’t get the point of saying rankings don’t matter.

yes I agree, don’t put all of your eggs in the rankings basket... but this isn’t a lowly ranked kid who has quite a few power 6 programs involved. He has exactly one power 6 offer and it came within the last week.

clearly as of now, 99% of college coaches in the game tend to have a similar view to what his ranking says. Not to say that those offers can’t come, but I don’t know why Indiana needs to be the first to jump at him if he wants to be here so badly.

[ap2345 7,803]

30 minutes ago, Stuhoo said:

So would Thompson and a few others.

Painter better be careful, he is amassing a group of kids that do not appear to be “alpha dogs“.

When Ivey and Tre Williams depart he’s got some worries about a talent gap.

Painter will find somebody to replace them or somebody will develop into that role. He only needs a couple alpha types and some role players which is what their roster will be full of. 

[Certified Sunshine Pumper 9,095]

1 hour ago, Chris007 said:

Or you can trot out a roster of Jaden Ivey, Brandon Newman, Mason Gillis, Caleb Furst, Trey Kauffman, and Braden Smith. I don't think that team will be Northwestern.

Loaded 

[ap2345 7,803]

I know it's already been said he's leaning towards the Purdue offer but it sounds like he'll be a boilermaker very soon. Good chance it'll be by the end of the day today or tomorrow. 

[Hoosierfan2017 21,328]

Doesn't really sound like someone who is dying to be a Hoosier if he commits to Purdue days after they offer him, tbh..