​Covering Purdue basketball over the last couple of years has been enjoyable and comparatively straightforward. After a forgettable 2019-20 season due to the global pandemic, the Boilermakers rebounded to earn a 4 seed in the 2021 NCAA Tournament. Even before that, Purdue had not been seeded lower than four since 2016. Not only are they a perennial NCAA Tournament team, they have entered each of the last nine tournaments with a seed aimed at reaching the second weekend, and they’ve accomplished that seven times in those nine appearances. The only first-round exit in that stretch came in overtime to North Texas in 2021, followed two years later by the most lopsided defeat in tournament history.
A few months ago I noted this as the start of a new era, but under Matt Painter, eras can blend into one another. Those nine straight top-four seeds, the era where selection Sunday was almost never a stressor, have all occurred under his watch despite changing rosters. Eventually that streak will end, but even with significant roster turnover Purdue is still projected to be a top-25 team for the 2025-26 season—though they’ll be navigating a very loaded Big Ten.
With summer practice now underway, it’s worth surveying what we know and speculating about how good this team might be. The Known Starter is CJ Cox, a junior guard. After serving as a solid fourth or fifth option in the starting lineup and excelling in that role for the last two seasons, Cox returns as the veteran leader—the guy with the most experience on the floor. That’s notable for someone who arrived as a little-known two-star recruit when Painter offered him the scholarship. Cox embodies the classic Painter finding-and-developing-a-gem story: a player not recruited heavily who has more than proven his value.
Cox brings a remarkable number of career starts for a Purdue player and perhaps for most of the roster. He has logged 62 starts at the major college level, a total surpassed by only Caden Pierce, who has 89 starts at Princeton. Outside of Cox and Pierce, the rest of the Purdue roster has combined for only nine starts. Jack Benter and Daniel Jacobsen each have two starts, and Gicarri Harris has five. Cox has flirted with a 40 percent mark from beyond the arc over his career (95 made threes on 249 attempts) and has shown a versatile game that includes a capable midrange shot. He has been a crucial factor in several key wins over the past few seasons, most notably contributing 27 points in a 70-66 victory at Northwestern last season, along with multiple important three-pointers in the win at Nebraska. His clutch free throws—two with 19 seconds left in the Sweet 16 win over Texas—proved to be decisive.
While it may feel like hyperbole, there’s a real ceiling for Cox in 2026-27 comparable to Carsen Edwards’ 2018-19 campaign. Cox is a bigger guard than Edwards, and while his scoring hasn’t reached the same heights yet, the best-case scenario is him evolving into a 15- to 20-point-per-game scorer. I anticipate him continuing to function as a combo guard who can initiate the offense and handle the ball—essentially a floor general while also contributing as a scorer when needed. In many ways, Cox’s trajectory will shape Purdue’s ceiling: if he steps into a larger role and doubles his scoring output, Purdue’s offense could carry an extra gear.
In short, Cox is essentially the team’s focal point by default. If he accepts a larger responsibility and translates that into increased production, Purdue’s 2025-26 season could resemble the best chapters of Painter’s earlier teams, even amid the inevitable roster turnover.