Braden Smith and Trey Kaufman-Renn Added to Award Watchlists

The junior due have led the charge for Purdue this year.

With the end of the regular season fast approaching, I know I’m sad about it too, it’s time for the watchlist for the major awards to be whittled down. Today there were announcements from two of the big time awards that included some of our favorite Purdue Boilermakers.

First, the Bob Cousy award, an award that if you’ll recall initially left Braden Smith off their list before adding him later, didn’t make the same mistake as last year and included Smith in their list of 10 finalists. The award is handed out to the best point guard in the country each year. There are some familiar names on this list along with Braden Smith.

Purdue faced Mark Sears, Kam Jones, Ace Baldwin Jr., and Dylan Harper already this year. That’s quite a group to have played against this year. Braden Smith played better than his opponent in almost all of those matchups. It’s another indication that Smith is amongst the elite at his position in all of college basketball.

Second, the mid-season watchlist for the Oscar Robertson trophy was released and it included not one but two Purdue Boilermakers. They are of course the two you would think: Braden Smith and Trey Kaufman-Renn.

This award is handed out to the Player of the Year by the Basketball Writer’s Association. While it’s an incredible honor to be listed on here it’s a list of 50 players so not quite the final 10 that the Cousy award is. But, keep an eye out here as the awards season continues to announce finalists.