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Purdue Basketball's starting lineup set to begin the season

On3 imageby: Brian Neubert8 hours agobrianneubert
Purdue's Oscar Cluff
Purdue's Oscar Cluff (Chad Krockover)

After a highly competitive summer and fall, Purdue coach Matt Painter has settled on a starting five to at least begin the 2024-2025 season, which sort of (but not really) starts with Friday night’s exhibition game at Kentucky.

It will be seniors Braden Smith, Fletcher Loyer, Trey Kaufman-Renn and Oscar Cluff and sophomore CJ Cox, meaning four of the five starters Purdue ended last season keep their spots.

The one spot that really came down to the end was the latter, even with Cox being a returning starter. Classmate Gicarri Harris was one of Purdue’s best players all summer and probably the most improved, either he or Kaufman-Renn. Cox, though, has been excellent, too, and wet 6-0 in Purdue’s scrimmages in recent weeks.

The two sophomores figure to amount to a co-starter sort of arrangement similar to how Kaufman-Renn and Mason Gillis operated on the Final Four team two seasons ago.

Painter has again spent the weeks leading up to the season talking about having “more than five starters” and the importance of “sacrifice.” Common refrains around Purdue lately and certainly applicable to this, the deepest team Painter’s ever had.

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