Braden Smith (basketball)

Braden Smith (born July 25, 2003) is an American college basketball player for the Purdue Boilermakers of the Big Ten Conference.

Early life and high school career
Smith was born in Russellville, Arkansas and moved with his family to Westfield, Indiana at age four. He attended Westfield High School and made the varsity basketball team as a freshman. Smith was named first-team All-Hoosier Crossroads Conference (HCC) after he averaged 18.5 points, 5.4 rebounds, 4.7 assists, and 1.5 steals per game during his sophomore season. As a junior, he averaged 22.1 points, 6.2 rebounds, 5.4 assists, and 2.7 steals per game and was named high-honorable mention All-State in addition to repeating as a first team All-HCC selection. Smith was named Indiana Mr. Basketball after averaging 18.3 points, six rebounds, six assists, and 1.9 steals while leading Westfield to their first sectional championship. He also missed several weeks due to a foot injury.

Smith was rated a three-star recruit and committed to playing college basketball for Purdue over offers from Appalachian State, Belmont, Montana, North Texas, and Toledo. At the time of his commitment Purdue was his only major-conference offer, but he had recently begun to receive interest from Indiana, Gonzaga, Xavier, Villanova, and Oregon.

Freshman season
Smith entered his freshman season at Purdue as a starter at guard. In his college debut in the season opener against Milwaukee, he scored seven points with four rebounds, four assists and set a freshman record with seven steals in an 84–57 win. Smith was named the Big Ten Conference Freshman of the Week after scoring 20 points with three assists and two rebounds in a 75–70 win over Marquette. He started all 35 of the Boilermakers' games and was named to the Big Ten Conference All-Freshman team after averaging 9.7 points, 4.4 assists, 4.2 rebounds, and 1.2 steals per game.

Sophomore season
Smith returned as the starting Point Guard in his sophomore season. On March 5th, in a win against Illinois, Smith broke the Purdue single season assist record with his 208th assist. The previous record, set by Bruce Parkinson, had stood since 1975. On March 12th, Smith was named First Team All-Big Ten. By the end of the season Braden Smith led the nation in total assists and was named an Honorable Mention All-American. In the Sweet Sixteen vs Gonzaga, Braden Smith had 14 points and 15 assists in Purdue's victory. Smith's 15 assists were the most by one player in a tournament game in Purdue history as well as in Big Ten history. In the National Championship, Smith broke the Big Ten single season assist record with his 292nd assist narrowly passing the previous record holder, Cassius Winston, by one assist.

Personal life
Both of Smith's parents, Ginny and Dustin, played college basketball at Arkansas Tech University. Ginny Smith currently serves as the assistant athletic director and girls' basketball coach at Westfield High School.