Smith Named Big Ten’s Preseason Player of the Year
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue junior guard Braden Smith has been voted the Big Ten’s preseason Player of the Year in voting done by the league coaches and media.
Smith was also the only unanimous selection on the 10-person preseason All-Big Ten team and was joined on the team by Indiana’s Oumar Ballo, Iowa’s Payton Sandford, Minnesota’s Dawson Garcia, Northwestern’s Brooks Barnhizer, Ohio State’s Bruce Thornton, Oregon’s Jackson Shelstad, Penn State’s Ace Baldwin Jr., Rutgers’ Dylan Harper and Washington’s Great Osobor.
It marks the second straight year that a Boilermaker has been named the Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year after Zach Edey was voted a year ago. Edey would go on to win his second straight Big Ten Player of the Year award.
Smith is coming off a record-breaking season for the Boilermakers, setting a school and Big Ten record with 292 assists, while being the only player in America to average at least 12.0 points, 7.5 assists and 5.0 rebounds per game. He became just the second player in NCAA history to amass at least 450 points, 275 assists and 225 rebounds in a season (BYU’s Kyle Collinsworth – 2015-16 season).
Smith would finish the season averaging 12.0 points, 7.5 assists and 5.8 rebounds per game while shooting 43.1 percent from 3-point range.
For his career, Smith has 808 points, 445 assists and 373 rebounds in just 74 games. He is one of six players (Magic Johnson, Kenny Anderson, Nick Calathes, D.J. Cooper, Ja Morant) to have at least 800 points, 425 assists and 350 rebounds by the end of his sophomore season. He currently already ranks eighth on Purdue’s career assists list and needs just 245 helpers to set the school record for career assists. His 445 assists are the second most in Big Ten history through the end of his sophomore campaign (Magic Johnson – 491).
Purdue will face Creighton in Omaha, Nebraska, on Oct. 26, in a charity exhibition game and then host Grand Valley State on Oct. 30, in Mackey Arena.
Smith and the Boilermakers will open the regular-season Nov. 4, against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.