The Best Point Guard in the Country: Smith Wins Cousy Award
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue junior point guard Braden Smith’s numbers speak for themselves and today he was rewarded with one of his biggest honors to date, being named the recipient of the Bob Cousy Award, given annually to the nation’s top point guard by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Smith becomes Purdue’s first winner of the Cousy Award in school history and is the third Boilermaker to win one of five position awards handed out (Cousy, West, Erving, Malone, Abdul-Jabbar).
“I am honored to be the recipient of the Bob Cousy Award and would like to thank the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and Mr. Cousy for this award. I would also like to shout out my teammates, coaches and support staff for their trust and confidence in me this season. To be included among the elite players that have won this award is very humbling and I am grateful to be selected to join that prestigious group,” Smith said.
Purdue players have now won four all-time positional awards as Smith joins West Award winner Carsen Edwards (2018) and Abdul-Jabbar Award winner Zach Edey (2023, 2024). The four total accolades are the second most in the country behind Villanova’s five (two Cousy, three Erving).
In addition, Purdue joins Gonzaga, Duke and Kentucky as the only school to have three different players win their respective positional trophy. Villanova (5), Purdue (4), Duke (4) and Gonzaga (4) are the only schools to win four combined awards.
Other recipients of the position awards include Tennessee’s Chaz Lanier (West), Duke’s Cooper Flagg (Erving), Auburn’s Johni Broome (Malone) and Creighton’s Ryan Kalkbrenner (Abdul-Jabbar).
Smith has previously been named a first-team All American by the four entities that make up consensus honors – The Sporting News, The Associated Press, the USBWA and the NABC, as well as one of four finalists for the Naismith Award and Wooden Award.
The Boilermakers finished with a 24-12 overall record and reached the Sweet 16. Next year’s Boilermaker squad is expected to be ranked high when the “way-too-early” top-25 polls come out next week.
Cousy Award Winner – Braden Smith, Junior, Guard
- Winner of the Bob Cousy Award, given to the nation’s top point guard.
- A finalist for the Wooden and Naismith Awards, Smith is the top point guard in the country.
- Consensus first-team All-American, being named to the first team by the Sporting News, the Associated Press, the USBWA, the NABC as well as a Naismith Trophy finalist.
- Named the Big Ten Player of the Year after being selected as the preseason Player of the Year.
- Averaged 15.8 points, 8.7 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 2.2 steals per game, but saw his averages increase to 17.4 points, 8.9 assists and 4.6 rebounds during Big Ten play.
- Set the Big Ten record for assists in conference play only with 175, smashing the previous record set by Michigan State’s Cassius Winston (157) by 18 assists – almost a full assist per game.
- Is the second player in NCAA history to record at least 550 points, 300 assists and 150 rebounds in a season (Murray State’s Ja Morant – 2018-19). Is the only player to add at least 75 steals to the list.
- With 15 assists against Houston in the Sweet 16 last Friday, Smith is the only player in NCAA Tournament history to have two games of at least 15 assists. Both came in the Sweet 16 (2024 – Gonzaga; 2025 – Houston).
- Became the second player in Big Ten history, joining Michigan State’s Magic Johnson, to register 450 points, 250 assists, 125 rebounds and 60 steals in a season. Smith has reached those numbers in each of the last two seasons.
- Became the school’s career assists leader, now with 758 assists in just 110 career games. Smith already ranks fourth on the Big Ten’s career assists list, despite playing three seasons.
- Became the first player since California’s Jason Kidd (1993-94) to average at least 15.0 points, 8.5 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game, and only the third player in NCAA history (Kidd, Loyola Marymount’s Terrell Lowery – 1990-91).
- Smith’s 758 assists (and counting) are the third most for a player in NCAA history by the end of his junior season (Duke’s Bobby Hurley; Oakland’s Kay Felder). He is the only player in NCAA history with 1,300 points, 700 assists and 500 rebounds in his first three seasons.
- Recorded four 20-point, 10-assist games this season. Prior to this year, Purdue had two 20-point, 10-assist games in school history – the last one coming in the 1987-88 season.
- His nine point-assist double-doubles are the third most for a high-major player in the last 20 seasons (14 – Oklahoma’s Trae Young, 2018; 10 – Kansas State’s Markquis Nowell, 2023).
- Smith has posted two games of 30 or more points this season (34 vs. Toledo; 31 vs. Iowa).
- Has 13 games of 10 or more assists this season, and 23 games of 10 or more assists for his career. His 23 career games of 10 or more assists are the most in Big Ten history. The 23, 10-assist games are the second most by a player in his junior season or younger in the last 20 years (Kay Felder – 32; Braden Smith – 23; Kendall Marshall – 23; Ja Morant – 23).
- Enters his senior season needing just 125 points and 242 assists to become the first player in NCAA history with 1,500 points, 1,000 assists and 500 rebounds for his career. He needs 318 assists to tie Bobby Hurley for the NCAA all-time assists record with 1,076.