Purdue signee Braden Smith named Indiana Mr. Basketball
Purdue signee Braden Smith has been named Indiana Mr. Basketball, as was announced by the Indianapolis Star on Saturday morning.
The Westfield High School point guard earned the honor after leading the Shamrocks to their first-ever sectional championship, with a thrilling March 5 win over Carmel, then knocked out Homestead before falling to Kokomo at the Logansport Regional.
Smith averaged 18-plus points, six assists, six rebounds and two steals for Westfield, which also won the prestigious Hall of Fame Classic in New Castle in December.
Smith edged out a field of fellow finalists that also included soon-to-be Purdue teammate Fletcher Loyer of Homestead.
Loyer was named Indiana's Gatorade Player of the Year. For the second straight year, Purdue signed both Mr. Basketball and the Gatorade winner, as last year, Caleb Furst was Mr. Basketball and Trey Kaufman-Renn was Gatorade Player of the Year.
After an 14-year dry spell post-Glenn Robinson, Purdue's now signed three of the past nine Mr. Basketballs. This is the first time in the history of the award that Purdue's signed back-to-back honorees.
Membership Info: Sign up for GoldandBlack.com now | Why join? | Questions?
Follow GoldandBlack.com: Twitter | Facebook | YouTube
More: Gold and Black Illustrated/Gold and Black Express | Subscribe to our podcast
Copyright, Boilers, Inc. 2022. All Rights Reserved. Reproducing or using editorial or graphical content, in whole or in part, without permission, is strictly prohibited.