WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue basketball's junior point guard, Braden Smith, has been named a preseason All-American by the Blue Ribbon Yearbook – college basketball's premier preseason publication.
Smith was named to the second team, the only Big Ten player named to the first three All-America teams by the publication. Indiana's Oumar Ballo and Washington's Great Osobor were named to the fourth team. Smith was joined on the second team by Auburn's Johni Broome, Duke's Cooper Flagg, Texas A&M's Wade Taylor IV and Tennessee's Zakai Zeigler.
The first team consisted on Kansas' Hunter Dickinson, Connecticut's Alex Karaban, North Carolina's R.J. Davis, Arizona's Caleb Love and Alabama's Mark Sears. Sears, whom the Boilermakers will face on Nov. 15, in Mackey Arena, was named the preseason Player of the Year.
In addition, Smith was named to the preseason All-Big Ten team as the conference's Player of the Year, while as a team the Boilermakers were selected third behind Indiana (1st) and Illinois (2nd). UCLA was tabbed fourth and Ohio State fifth.
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).
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).
Smith and the Boilermakers will open the regular-season Nov. 4, against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
Smith was named to the second team, the only Big Ten player named to the first three All-America teams by the publication. Indiana's Oumar Ballo and Washington's Great Osobor were named to the fourth team. Smith was joined on the second team by Auburn's Johni Broome, Duke's Cooper Flagg, Texas A&M's Wade Taylor IV and Tennessee's Zakai Zeigler.
The first team consisted on Kansas' Hunter Dickinson, Connecticut's Alex Karaban, North Carolina's R.J. Davis, Arizona's Caleb Love and Alabama's Mark Sears. Sears, whom the Boilermakers will face on Nov. 15, in Mackey Arena, was named the preseason Player of the Year.
In addition, Smith was named to the preseason All-Big Ten team as the conference's Player of the Year, while as a team the Boilermakers were selected third behind Indiana (1st) and Illinois (2nd). UCLA was tabbed fourth and Ohio State fifth.
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).
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).
Smith and the Boilermakers will open the regular-season Nov. 4, against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.