This is the fourth straight season Purdue enters the NCAA Tournament with a first-team All-American.

Four seasons again it was Jaden Ivey's year at the top of college basketball, his sophomore year at Purdue, and Matt Painter lost him to the NBA the next season.

Zach Edey, a sophomore on that team, then went on to be a unanimous first-team All-American the following two seasons, taking every major player of the year award along the way.

Edey left for the NBA after his senior season.

There's a world where both those players used their COVID year and would be playing for this year's Purdue team.

It's no coincidence that Purdue's last few years have been the most successful stretch in program history. Three straight years of earning its first program #1 ranking and then back to back years as a #1 seed.

Purdue has another first-team All-American this year, Braden Smith, a point guard that's on pace to break the NCAA's all-time assists records next season.

Smith's success, a testament to player and coach, and an offensive system that's seamlessly transitioned to one relient on Edey's post play to Braden Smith's pick and roll briliance, has allowed for Smith to flourish despite his lack of elite size, despite his lack of high school offfers, and in spite of Smith's doubters over the years.

All great players play with a chip on their shoulders, but with Smith, it sticks up to a size nearly as foreboding as Edey.

But for Smith, this season was more about what he hadn't experienced before: losing and leading a college team.