'Treat it like high school.' Braden Smith's 'super power,' makes Purdue unstoppable.

INDIANAPOLIS — You don’t always get them right.

A friend still rags on me about my, ahem, low ranking of Jaren Jackson Jr. in our class prospect rankings many years ago. Yes, the same Jaren Jackson Jr. who is currently averaging 22.6 points per game for the Memphis Grizzlies in his fifth NBA season. In my defense, Jackson Jr. still had a long way to go as a sophomore at Park Tudor.

But yeah, I should have known better than to rank him (winces) … ninth in the 2017 class as a sophomore. Sorry, Jaren. That was a miss.

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There are some occasional makes, though. Like the kid playing point guard for Purdue on Friday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. I remember seeing Braden Smith playing for his Westfield summer league team in June of 2019 at the Pacers Athletic Center. The kid, still 15, was a wizard with the basketball. A little small, sure. And I’d be lying if I said I knew at that time five years later he would be one of the best point guards in the country on one of the best college teams in the country.

But even then, he could deliver passes with a flair similar to what you saw Friday night on an alley-oop to Camden Heide in top-seeded Purdue’s 78-50 win over No. 16-seed Grambling State in the NCAA tournament first round. Smith was slightly built back then but you could see it coming.

Purdue coach Matt Painter saw it, too. But in December of 2020, Purdue picked up a commitment from Jameel Brown, a guard in Smith’s class.

“We took a commitment,” Painter said. “People were calling us and people were telling us, but we couldn’t do anything. Then right as it happened and (Brown) decommitted from us, then we went and watched tape. There was like four ranked guys and there was him. I watched tape and I was like, ‘That kid there is better than all of those guys. And he’s better than all of those guys in college.”

Painter had to rely on tape, mostly, to evaluate Smith during that COVID time. He needed to see him in person. Once he did that, a few times, he knew what Smith brought to the table. Brown ended up playing for Painter’s former assistant, current Notre Dame coach Micah Shrewsberry, at Penn State (he entered the transfer portal on Friday). Smith, with a handful of offers from mid-major schools and Purdue, committed to the Boilermakers after his junior season at Westfield in April of 2021.

“I tried my best to kind of be subtle and call as many people as I could without letting people know we were actually interested and then we were able to get it done in a short amount of time,” Painter said.

Everybody knows the rest of the story, at least as it stands now. Smith went on to win IndyStar Mr. Basketball as a senior in 2022 after leading Westfield to its first sectional title in program history and started as a freshman at Purdue. The now-sophomore was fantastic against Grambling State, finishing with 11 points, 10 assists and zero turnovers.

“We’re very fortunate,” Painter said. “Because he’s a great player.”

Smith set the tone Friday night with his shooting, too, connecting on first three 3-pointers. He missed his next six to finish 3-for-9 from the arc, but the fact he’s looking to score is “his superpower.” That is at least how Painter describes it.

“I always tell him to look for that pullup because I know he’s so good at it," said teammate Fletcher Loyer, a former rival of Smith’s at Homestead. "He’s gotten really good at fading away with it, too. Just him scoring opens up everything for him. And him looking to score because he will make it. He’s that good of a player. It opens up everything for him and opens up everything for us.”

Smith was visibly mad at himself about a pullup 3-pointer he missed. Loyer pulled him aside and said, “Shoot that again.”

“For us to go far and for us to play our best basketball, those are the shots we need him to take,” Loyer said.

There is a competitive fire that burns a little hotter within Smith. He’s old school that way, sort of how you hear Scott Skiles talked about from years ago. When Smith was a senior at Westfield, he had to sit out a few games late in the season with a foot injury. In a game at Fishers, he felt the Tigers pressed too long in a 25-point win late in the season. Three weeks later, he played like a man possessed. Smith scored 20 of his 28 points in the first half against No. 2 Fishers in the sectional in an 18-point win.

“I felt the last time we played them, and they were pressing, and we were down 25, I felt like that lit a fire in all of us,” Smith said at the time.

That is the type of gunslinger Painter wants to see. Smith, looking back, said he thought he was playing that way as a freshman. He had a great season, averaging 9.7 points, 4.4 assists and 4.2 rebounds, earning a spot on the All-Freshman team in the Big Ten.

“I felt like I was playing a role,” he said after the win over Grambling State. “I felt like my job was to get those guys the ball so they can be successful. This year I think I’m looking for my shot a little more and being more aggressive. I think that helps us.”

This season? Smith is averaging 12.5 points, 7.3 assists and 5.8 rebounds and is one of the five finalists for the Cousy Award as the nation’s top point guard.

It certainly helps Smith to have a target like the 7-4 Zach Edey, who is the primary target of his pinpoint passes. And it certainly helps that no one but Edey can catch those passes. In the tournament, point guard play is critical. When Smith is running the floor, zipping no-look passes and confidently drilling 3-pointers, Purdue has the guy it needs to create problems for any opponent in its way the next three weeks.

“I think that’s the No. 1 thing more than anything, kind of treating it like high school,” Painter said of Smith. “There’s a lot of guys you coach you don’t’ want to say that to, like ‘don’t treat it like high school.’ But for him, that’s part of his superpower is really trying to be aggressive in those moments.”

Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Purdue basketball hits new level when Braden Smith stays aggressive