Purdue and Indiana have been on divergent paths since the retirement of their iconic coaches.
Back in the salad days of the Purdue vs. Indiana and Keady vs. Knight rivalry, the Purdue and Indiana programs were more alike than they were different. They ran the same offense, played the same defense, and, for the most part, recruited from the same pool of players. Granted, once Indiana established itself as a national contender, they may have had access to a slightly higher tier of recruits, but, for the most part, Purdue and Indiana were two Midwestern doppelgängers battling it out in the heart of basketball country. Now, the only thing the two programs have in common is their geographic location. Purdue has stayed on the path carved out by Gene Keady. Indiana is wandering lost in the wilderness, the map back to Coach Knight’s success long since jettisoned.
Purdue basketball is still easy to define under Matt Painter. He’s going to build his roster through recruiting, often eschewing higher-rated players for players that fit his roster. Big men like Caleb Swanigan, Trey Williams, and Zach Edey are his calling cards, but Carson Edwards, Jaden Ivey, and now Braden Smith have had no issue thriving under Painter as well. Coach Painter starts the season with a basic outline and makes adjustments depending on where the team takes him. Regardless of a season’s particular focus (get the ball to Zach, screen for Carson, pick and rolls with Braden, etc.), the overall focus on playing fundamental, efficient basketball remains the same. The Boilermakers of new, like the Boilermakers of old, are still focused on the whole of the team being worth more than the sum of its parts. However, Matt Painter has improved the overall quality of the parts.
Indiana basketball, on the other hand, is a program doomed by history. They can’t be the program they need to be today because of the program they were in the past. While Purdue and Matt Painter are allowed to play the long game and occasionally settle for a “good” season in order to set up a “great” season, the Hoosiers, as a supposed blue blood, are forced to swing for the fences every season. Unfortunately for our candy-striped friends in Bloomington, they keep striking out while the Boilermakers continue to build.
The Hoosiers, despite being in the midst of a brutal 1-5 run of form in the Big Ten, are a talented team. But they’re a talented team of basketball mercenaries, and that’s been an issue for the Hoosiers since Tom Crean’s brief flare-up of success with an Indiana-centric roster featuring Cody Zeller, Yogi Ferrell, and Jordan Hulls. I understand why Indiana, despite being located in one of the most basketball-crazy states in the nation, doesn’t recruit many Indiana players—but I think it’s stupid. The Hoosiers think they’re above recruiting their home state. They’re a BLUE BLOOD, a NATIONAL BRAND… they have BANNERS!
I knew Indiana was ignoring their home state but seeing it on paper (or a computer screen) is rather shocking. Indiana University, the supposed biggest college brand in the biggest college basketball state, hasn’t signed a top five high school player from the state of Indiana since 2020, when they signed the alleged top player in the state, Khristian Lander, and the fifth-ranked Anthony Leal (Galloway was sixth in the 2020 class). It’s not that Indiana is losing in-state talents to Purdue—they’re losing them to everyone. They couldn’t be bothered to capitalize on the Boilermakers’ lack of scholarships and recruit Brooks Barnhizer in 2021; now he’s thriving at Northwestern. They missed on Jalen Washington in 2022 when the second-rated player in the state signed with North Carolina. In 2023, Xavier Booker ended up in East Lansing instead of Bloomington. In 2024, top-rated Flory Bidunga matriculated to a blue blood, but he’s at Kansas instead of Indiana. The second-rated player in the class, Kanon Catchings, was a Purdue recruit until he was scared off by the roster and ended up at BYU.
I don’t get it. The Hoosiers put those banners in the rafters on the strength of in-state talent; the same in-state talent that Purdue has utilized to maintain a top-tier Big Ten program over the last decade. How can the supposed premier basketball brand in the state of Indiana ignore Indiana players? They can’t sign the top-rated in-state talent, and they think they’re too good for the three-star guys that Purdue keeps landing.
Take the 2022 class, for example. Indiana signed the composite 10th-best recruiting class in the nation! Lowly Purdue came in at 30th. Mike Woodson landed the 26th- and 38th-best players in the nation, Jalen Hood-Schifino and Malik Reneau, out of basketball factory Montverde Academy in Florida. Then, they went down to Georgia to sign the 89th-rated Kaleb Banks to play small forward and threw in the 120th-rated CJ Gunn out of Lawrence North as their token in-state player. Meanwhile, Purdue’s top recruit in the class was 122nd-ranked Fletcher Loyer, who simply wasn’t athletic enough to play for I.U., and some three-star kid outside of the top 200 named Braden Smith, who was way too small to play for a blue blood like Indiana.
Now, in 2025, Smith and Loyer, along with another Indiana product, 2021 recruit Trey Kaufmann-Renn, make up Purdue’s Big Three. At the same time, Indiana’s prize recruit from the 2022 class, Jalen Hood-Schifino, has logged 123 minutes of basketball for the Lakers over the last two seasons after a one-and-done Indiana career that saw Hood-Schifino leave Bloomington without a Big Ten or National Championship. Malik Reneau is still playing for Indiana and is averaging a respectable 13 points per game. But Kaleb Banks, after two seasons of riding the pine in Bloomington, is averaging 17.5 points per game for Tulane. CJ Gunn moved on to DePaul, where he’s averaging 12 points per game after putting up four points per contest for the Hoosiers in 2023-’24.
Indiana’s 10th-rated 2022 recruiting class is providing the Hoosiers with a combined 13 points, six rebounds, and two assists in 2025. Purdue’s 30th-ranked 2022 class is providing the Boilermakers with 34 points, 15 rebounds, and 11 assists (only counting Smith, Heide, and Loyer) per game.
Coach Painter is allowed to build his team for long-term sustainability. He brings in his guys, puts them on the court, lets them develop their game, and by the time they are juniors and seniors, not only do they have a ton of experience, but they also have a ton of experience in Purdue’s system with their teammates. That’s the formula for a consistently top-tier program capable of contending, at minimum, for a conference championship every season.
Mike Woodson (for now) builds his team one season at a time because THIS IS INDIANA, DAMN IT, AND WE HAVE TO COMPETE FOR A NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP EVERY SEASON! The problem is, Indiana keeps repeating the same strategy while expecting different results.
When Purdue and Indiana take the court on Saturday, the team in black and gold will be representing basketball in the state of Indiana. The Hoosiers will be representing an average Big Ten team with a talented but disjointed roster. Purdue has managed to both win big and maintain its identity. Indiana, in trying to win big, has lost theirs.
That’s not to say I.U. can’t win—they can. They have a bunch of talented players. But Indiana, individually, has the talent to win most of the games on their schedule. However, collectively, they’re not a consistent or, dare I say, committed team.
Purdue may not be a national brand like Indiana, but they’re consistently the best team from the state of Indiana. I expect that to be on full display Saturday.