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Matt Painter Bringing in Another 7-Footer to Purdue
Let’s catch up on some news from the past few weeks while pushing the delete button on my DVR to remove the Old Oaken Bucket game from memory. …
Yes, Big Ten, Matt Painter has another 7-footer coming to your basketball court in 2026-27.
Sinan Huan, a 7-foot, 225-pound center from Beijing, is attending Georgetown Prep in Washington, D.C. Huan is ranked as high as 36th nationally by On3/Rivals. He averaged 11.3 points, 4.6 rebounds and five blocked shots per game over a seven-game stretch for China in the FIBA U19 World Cup this past summer.
Huan, Jacob Webber (33rd by On3/Rivals) and Luke Ertel (42nd by 247Sports) gives Purdue its first recruiting class of three top 50 players since the 2007 group of Robbie Hummel, JaJuan Johnson, Scott Martin and E’Twaun Moore in 2007.
“Sinan gives us exactly what we were looking for in the center position,” Painter said. “He is a player that can change the game on the defensive end, not just blocking shots but by being a deterrent in the lane. He has an absolutely huge upside in terms of playing inside and outside. What really drew us to him is giving us another big presence to go with Daniel (Jacobsen) and Raleigh (Burgess). We knew we needed help on the frontline after losing Oscar (Cluff), Trey (Kaufman-Renn) and Liam (Murphy), and we are really excited about his upside on both ends of the floor.”
Ertel, a 6-2 guard from Mount Vernon, is 247Sports’ top-ranked player in Indiana. Webber and fellow Purdue signee Rivers Knight play at La Lumiere.
“We have a lot of similarities in this group, mostly in everyone’s ability to shoot. I think that is the one thing that really jumps out,” Painter said. “We need that from this group in that the defense has to worry about everyone and our spacing. That gives you great balance and you can do a lot of things with that. All three guys are going to be outstanding players and are very skilled and talented.”
Ertel, one of the favorites to win the 2026 Indiana Mr. Basketball award, averaged 22.7 points, 4 assists and 6.4 rebounds as a junior. He was a 45 percent shooter from 3-point range and made 91 percent of his free throws.
“I don’t know if I have ever seen a player that we have taken with more fortitude than Luke has,” said Painter, who has a strong-willed point guard named Braden Smith. “He’s very determined, tough, hard-nosed, picks you up full-court and birddogs the basketball. He has really improved his arsenal in terms of shooting the basketball, not just as catch-and-shoot, but getting to his pull-up, getting into bodies and being able to make runners. He has put a lot of time into his game and he is very skilled and just scratching the surface. We are very excited to get Luke.”
Painter has made it a point to recruit good shooters since the last place finish in 2013. The 6-6 Webber appears to meet that requirement, having made 42 percent of his 3-point attempts and shooting 90 percent at the line as a junior at Benson High School in Kearney, Neb. Webber averaged 21.7 points last season.
“Jacob gives us great positional size as a guard and is the best move-and-shoot player in the country,” Painter said. “He has an uncanny ability to be able to sprint in and get his feet organized and shoot to 28 feet and do that very consistently.”
Knight, a 6-8 forward, is ranked eighth in Indiana by 247Sports. He transferred to La Lumiere from Durham, N.C. for his senior season. Knight averaged 17.4 points, 10.2 rebounds and 4 blocks per game for Jordan High School. He was a 39-percent 3-point shooter and 54 percent overall.
“We are very fortunate to get Rivers,” Painter said. “He didn’t play this past summer (injury) and wasn’t on a lot of radars. Rivers has great size and a quick release – he is a prolific shooter and can really stretch the defense at that four position. He has range to 25 feet and can consistently knock them down. He has more to him as a player that he will show this season at La Lumiere.”
This and that
Tuesday night’s 81-65 victory at Rutgers broke a losing trend for the top-ranked Purdue men’s basketball team in December Big Ten road openers.
Since the conference began scheduling two games in December 2017, the Boilermakers have struggled:
2024: Losing 81-70 at Penn State
2023: Losing 92-88 in overtime at Northwestern
2022: Winning 65-62 in overtime at Nebraska
2021: Losing 70-68 at Rutgers shortly after earning the school’s first No. 1 ranking
2020: Losing 70-55 at Iowa
2019: Losing 70-56 at Nebraska
2018: Losing 76-57 at No. 7 Michigan
2017: Winning 80-75 at Maryland
Trey Kaufman-Renn is making a strong opening statement to earn All-America honors alongside Braden Smith. With his fourth double-double of the season – 19 points and 13 rebounds at Rutgers – Kaufman-Renn is averaging 15.5 points and 11 rebounds a game. …
Since earning the No. 1 Associated Press ranking for the first time during the 2021-22 season, Purdue has been atop the poll 17 weeks. In that same span, Auburn and Houston are next at 11 weeks. …
No team in the country has been better in November than the Boilermakers, whose 109-62 victory against Eastern Illinois improved Purdue to 35-1 since the start of the 2021-22 season.
That includes five consecutive regular season tournament championships, the latest of which was an 86-56 whipping of No. 15 Texas Tech in the Baha Mar Championship. Nine of the 12 wins from the 2021 Hall of Fame Tipoff Classic, the 2022 Phil Knight Legacy, the 2023 Maui Invitational, the 2024 Rady Children’s Invitational and this year’s tournament in the Bahamas have come against ranked opponents.
Braden Smith is closing in on the Big Ten career assists record held by Michigan State’s Cassius Winston (890). After handing out eight assists at Rutgers, Smith’s total stands at 829. …
Painter won his 500th career game when the Boilermakers topped Akron 97-79. The 55-year-old Painter is in his 22nd season overall, having won 25 games in his only season at Southern Illinois.
The active coaches who reached 500 victories in fewer games than Painter, who did it in his 720th game? You may have heard of them: Mark Few of Gonzaga, John Calapari of Arkansas, Bill Self of Kansas, Rick Pitino of St. John’s and Tom Izzo of Michigan State. …
Painter improved to 12-5 in showdowns between Associated Press Top 10 teams with the 87-80 victory at Alabama. The win was Purdue’s first non-conference triumph away from Mackey Arena since an 89-83 victory at No. 7 Louisville on Dec. 4, 1982.
Hall of Fame adds two Boilers
Brandon Brantley and the late Jaraan Cornell are part of the 2026 Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame class.
Brantley was a 1991 Indiana All-Star from Andrean. He was a starter on three consecutive Big Ten championship teams at Purdue before playing 10 years of pro ball overseas.
He joined Matt Painter’s coaching staff in 2013 and has been recognized for tutoring Purdue big men Caleb Swanigan, Isaac Haas, Matt Haarms, Trevion Williams, two-time national player of the year Zach Edey and Trey Kaufman-Renn.
Cornell, who passed away on June 6, led South Bend Clay to the 1994 state championship and was the MVP of the state finals as a sophomore. He left Clay as the all-time leader in points (1,700) and rebounds (784). He was a member of the 1996 Indiana All-Star team and a third-team Parade All-American.
He is 19th in career scoring at Purdue (1,595) and holds the school-single season record for 3-point accuracy (.500 on 61 of 122 in 1998).
Other notable inductees include 1987 co-Indiana Mr. Basketball Jay Edwards of Marion and Rick Fox of Warsaw, who enjoyed a 13-year NBA career with the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers.
Former Indiana Pacers guard John Barnhill was elected posthumously. He starred at Evansville Lincoln in the 1950s and became a three-time NAIA All-American at what is now Tennessee State University. Barnhill played seven seasons in the NBA before his ABA tenure with Indiana and the Denver Rockets. He helped the Pacers win the 1970 and 1972 ABA titles.
Kenny Thompson is the former sports editor for the Lafayette Journal & Courier and an award-winning journalist. He has covered Purdue athletics for many years.