Painter Inks Highly-Regarded Trio in Class of 2022

Painter Inks Highly-Regarded Trio in Class of 2022

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue head coach Matt Painter has announced that three players have signed their National Letters of Intent to join the Boilermaker program for the 2022-23 season.

Cam Heide, Fletcher Loyer and Braden Smith all submitted their paperwork Tuesday and are officially members of the Purdue basketball program.

The class is ranked in the top 30 of all three major recruiting services and the group will give Purdue basketball another solid class of skilled players.

“I think all three of these guys help our competitive spirit and our skill level. They’ve all come from winning programs and bring that mentality with them,” Painter said. “Their skill level, knowledge of the game and their ability to make players better around them is what really drew us to them.”

Loyer was ranked in the nation’s top 100 in the recruiting services while Heide was a borderline top-100 player. Braden Smith exploded onto the scene late and will be one of the favorites for Indiana Mr. Basketball this upcoming season.

“Our staff did a great job in a tough year when we couldn’t go on the road recruiting. Looking back to the last class, we did a great job evaluating Brian Waddell when we couldn’t really watch him much. We had really recruited the other two guys (Caleb Furst and Trey Kaufman-Renn) for a long time, so we knew all about them, but getting Brian was really big for us. They continued that this year in evaluations and knew this group would be great fits for us,” Painter added.

The trio join Kaufman-Renn and Waddell as members of that class after the duo has announced their intentions to redshirt.

Cam Heide / 6-6 / Forward / Wayzata, Minnesota

• A 4-star recruit, Heide led Wayzata to the 2021 Minnesota State Championship before transferring to Wasatch Academy (Utah) this summer.
• Committed on Purdue on June 15, 2021.
• Ranked the No. 1 class of 2022 player in Minnesota by 247Sports.com before his transfer.
• Averaged almost 18 points and six rebounds per game at Wayzata as a junior. Shot over 40 percent from 3-point range.
• An outstanding athlete, Heide is a strong shooter that will also stretch the defense.
• Chose Purdue over offers from Arizona, Texas, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Virginia Tech, Iowa and Creighton among others.
• Cam’s father, Craig, is a 1979 graduate of Lafayette Jeff High School and a 1984 Purdue grad.
• Became the first eighth-grader to ever compete on the Wayzata High School team.
• Named one of 18 finalists to USA Basketball’s U16 National Team in May 2019 and attended the Men’s Junior National Team minicamp in July 2019.

Painter on Heide: Cam is someone we recruited for a long time and thought he was a great fit in our program. He is a guy who is athletic, can really shoot the ball and play the big wing spot. He gives us another versatile athlete and shooter that really fits our system.

Fletcher Loyer / 6-5 / Guard / Fort Wayne, Indiana

• A top-100 recruit, Loyer led Homestead High School to a 25-1 record and a No. 1 ranking in Indiana as a junior.
• Moved to Fort Wayne from Clarkson, Michigan, before his junior year.
• Brother, Foster, played at Michigan State before transferring to Davidson before this season. Foster was Michigan’s Mr. Basketball in 2018 and Fletcher will be a favorite to be Mr. Basketball in Indiana.
• Was named second-team All-Peach Jam this past summer, the elite AAU Tournament nationally during the summer.
• Scored a school-record 50 points in a December 2020 win over Marion High School.
• An elite shooter, Loyer averaged 24.4 points, 4.5 assists and 4.9 rebounds as a junior at Homestead. Shot 44.9 percent from long range and 90.3 percent from the free throw line.
• Chose Purdue over offers from Nebraska, Michigan, Notre Dame, Utah and Missouri.
• His grandfather, Al McFarland, played for the Boilermakers in 1964 and his mother, Kate, was a standout athlete at McCutcheon and later served as an assistant coach with the Purdue volleyball program.
• His father, John, is a scout for the Los Angeles Clippers and also served as the interim coach of the Detroit Pistons in 2014.
• Averaged 22 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.1 assists as a sophomore at Clarkson High School (Mich.) as a sophomore.

Painter on Loyer: Fletcher had a great summer on the EYBL circuit and then a phenomenal junior year at Homestead. He can play with the ball in his hands, play out of ball screens and play without the ball. He has a really unique game in that he can make a lot of different shots. He’s also an excellent passer. I think he’s going to be a very, very good player here.

Braden Smith / 6-0 / Guard / Westfield, Indiana

• An underrated three-star recruit, Smith led Westfield to an 18-5 record and a sectional loss to the eventual state champs, Carmel, and future teammate Brian Waddell.
• Committed to Purdue on April 29, 2021, less than a week after receiving an offer from Painter.
• Purdue was the first high-major program to offer, but Gonzaga, Villanova, Oregon and Indiana were highly interested before he committed.
• Is the first Division I recruit in Westfield High School boys’ basketball history.
• Along with Loyer, will be one of the favorites for Indiana Mr. Basketball.
• As a junior, Smith averaged 22.1 points, 6.2 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 2.7 steals per game. He shot over 45 percent from 3-point range and has scored more than 1,200 points in his career.

Painter on Smith: We were very fortunate to be able to get Braden. We weren’t able to see him live and we were blown away when we watched him on film with his basketball savvy and tenaciousness. He has an ability to make players better. He can really pass the basketball and has unlimited range. He’s extremely crafty on both ends and we feel really good about what he will bring to the program.