The text came from the quiet one.
Two days after Purdue lost its fourth-straight game and continued what by any measure is among the dimmest stretches in what has otherwise been a shiny decade, the typically lead-by-example Trey Kaufman-Renn arranged a time for a players-only meeting.
Blue moons are observed more often than meetings of this kind at Purdue, especially since the Boilermakers have made a habit of throwing a hat in the National Player of the Year conversation in the last three seasons. But Kaufman-Renn hasn't seen anything like this.
A fourth consecutive loss on its own, in a season in which Purdue was ranked as high as No. 6 in the AP Poll, would have been bad enough. But it occurred in Bloomington, Ind., in stunning fashion. A 12-point first-half lead was flipped on its head in less than 10 minutes – by a rival whose coach quit three weeks ago.
“We’re the lowest we’ve been in a long time,” Kaufman-Renn said. “Needing a win as much as ever.”
So it was decided in the team’s group chat that they would meet in the locker room Tuesday and talk things out. They didn’t make a show of it; some coaches didn’t even know it happened.
Voices chimed in from all corners, even from freshmen. First-year guard Gicarri Harris said the group’s body language had to improve – never let them see your chin drop. Junior guard Braden Smith, the group’s loudest voice and brightest talent, regretted his silence at points in this losing streak, when he didn’t know what to say. “What this team needs from me is to communicate and help.”
It’s resulted in some of the best practices the team has had, after its coach said it had an “accountability issue” following Sunday’s loss to Indiana. “Just the energy,” Kaufman-Renn said. Focused shooting, cheering for defense. A feeling of readiness for a UCLA squad that now has to deal with a dialed-in Purdue in the already hellish Mackey Arena Friday.
Kaufman-Renn, a philosophy major who used to relish a night in but has drummed up spurts of extrovertedness this season, made a rather unlikely candidate to jump-start a meeting Smith said his team needed. But from the forward’s perspective, he was a natural fit for reasons that had to do more with his experience than personality.
“I’ve probably had, other than the coaches, the broadest range of roles on a Purdue basketball team,” Kaufman-Renn said.
He redshirted his freshman year, practicing against All-Big Ten talents in Trevion Williams and Zach Edey. Then he backed up Edey as the latter won National Player of the Year honors. The next year, he had to split minutes at the power forward spot. Only now has he enjoyed the role of vital scorer.
“I know how it is to come in when you may have not played last game,” the forward said. “And then all of a sudden, you get 10 minutes, you're out of rhythm, and you're expected to shoot.”
Kaufman-Renn’s resolution was to be more uplifting, to not miss a chance to slap a teammate on the back. When he looks around the room, whether it’s the locker room or a basketball court, he sees a team with enough pieces to return to form.
“I was telling the guys, I haven’t been a part of very many teams like this,” he said. “I can look at anybody that I'm throwing the ball to, or anybody on our court, and I trust everybody that's out there, not just to make the decisions, but to make shots, to play defense, to do all the little things. I’ve seen them be so successful.”
By all accounts within Mackey, Purdue can make something of itself yet this season. A chance at a Big Ten title is in the rearview, but the team’s leaders believe Purdue can reconnect with its former, dominant self.
“We still have 10 other goals that we had,” Smith said. “So one gets checked off, we’re onto the next.”
Then, a proclamation.
“We’re going to win these next three games," Smith said. "Go into the Big Ten Tournament, hopefully win those and then get into March Madness and go from there.”
