Braden Smith (born July 25, 2003) is an American college basketball player for the Purdue Boilermakers of the Big Ten Conference.

Early life and high school career

Smith was born in

Russellville, Arkansas Russellville is the county seat and largest city in Pope County, Arkansas, United States, with a 2021 estimated population of 29,338. It is home to Arkansas Tech University. Arkansas Nuclear One, Arkansas' only nuclear power plant is nearby. Rus ...

and moved with his family to Westfield, Indiana at age four. He attended Westfield High School and made the varsity basketball team as a freshman. Smith was named first-team All- Hoosier Crossroads Conference (HCC) after he averaged 18.5 points, 5.4 rebounds, 4.7 assists, and 1.5 steals per game during his sophomore season. As a junior, he averaged 22.1 points, 6.2 rebounds, 5.4 assists, and 2.7 steals per game and was named high-honorable mention All-State in addition to repeating as a first team All-HCC selection. Smith was named

Indiana Mr. Basketball The Indiana Mr. Basketball honor recognizes the top high school basketball player in the state of Indiana. The award is presented annually by ''The Indianapolis Star''. The first Indiana Mr. Basketball was George Crowe of Franklin High School in ...

after averaging 18.3 points, six rebounds, six assists, and 1.9 steals while leading Westfield to their first sectional championship. He also missed several weeks due to a foot injury. Smith was rated a three-star recruit and committed to playing college basketball for

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

over offers from

Appalachian State Appalachian State University (; Appalachian, App State, App, or ASU) is a public university in Boone, North Carolina. It was founded as a teachers college in 1899 by brothers B. B. and D. D. Dougherty and the latter's wife, Lillie Shull Dough ...

Belmont Belmont may refer to: People * Belmont (surname) Places * Belmont Abbey (disambiguation) * Belmont Historic District (disambiguation) * Belmont Hotel (disambiguation) * Belmont Park (disambiguation) * Belmont Plantation (disambiguation) * Belmon ...

, Montana, North Texas, and

Toledo Toledo most commonly refers to: * Toledo, Spain, a city in Spain * Province of Toledo, Spain * Toledo, Ohio, a city in the United States Toledo may also refer to: Places Belize * Toledo District * Toledo Settlement Bolivia * Toledo, Orur ...

. At the time of his commitment Purdue was his only major-conference offer, but he had recently begun to receive interest from Indiana,

Gonzaga Gonzaga may refer to: Places * Gonzaga, Lombardy, commune in the province of Mantua, Italy * Gonzaga, Cagayan, municipality in the Philippines *Gonzaga, Minas Gerais, town in Brazil *Forte Gonzaga, fort in Messina, Sicily People with the surna ...

, Xavier, Villanova, and Oregon.

College career

Freshman season

Smith entered his freshman season at Purdue as a starter at guard. In his college debut in the season opener against Milwaukee, he scored seven points with four rebounds, four assists and set a freshman record with seven steals in an 84–57 win. Smith was named the Big Ten Conference Freshman of the Week after scoring 20 points with three assists and two rebounds in a 75–70 win over Marquette. He started all 35 of the Boilermakers' games and was named to the Big Ten Conference All-Freshman team after averaging 9.7 points, 4.4 assists, 4.2 rebounds, and 1.2 steals per game.

Sophomore season

Smith returned as the starting Point Guard in his sophomore season. On March 5th, in a win against Illinois, Smith broke the Purdue single season assist record with his 208th assist. The previous record, set by Bruce Parkinson, had stood since 1975. On March 12th, Smith was named First Team All-Big Ten. By the end of the season Braden Smith led the nation in total assists and was named an Honorable Mention All-American. In the Sweet Sixteen vs Gonzaga, Braden Smith had 14 points and 15 assists in Purdue's victory. Smith's 15 assists were the most by one player in a tournament game in Purdue history as well as in Big Ten history. In the National Championship, Smith broke the Big Ten single season assist record with his 292nd assist narrowly passing the previous record holder, Cassius Winston, by one assist.

Career statistics

College

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Personal life

Both of Smith's parents, Ginny and Dustin, played college basketball at Arkansas Tech University. Ginny Smith currently serves as the assistant athletic director and girls' basketball coach at Westfield High School.

References

External links

Purdue Boilermakers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Braden 2003 births Living people American men's basketball players Basketball players from Arkansas Basketball players from Indiana People from Russellville, Arkansas People from Westfield, Indiana Point guards Purdue Boilermakers men's basketball players