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03/23/26 10:28:00
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03/23 10:27 CDT In the era of NIL and transfers, the Sweet 16 is filled with
veteran teams that have stuck together
In the era of NIL and transfers, the Sweet 16 is filled with veteran teams that
have stuck together
By DAVE SKRETTA
AP Basketball Writer
ST. LOUIS (AP) --- Purdue was struggling to put away Miami in the second half
of their second-round NCAA Tournament game on Sunday when Braden Smith,
Fletcher Loyer and Trey Kauffman-Renn combined to score the Boilermakers' next
22 points, helping them to turn a three-point lead into a 79-69 victory and a
spot in the Sweet 16.
It was exactly what coach Matt Painter has come to expect from his guys over
the last four years.
The antithesis of college basketball in the age of free transfers and name,
image and likeness money, the Boilermakers are two wins away from a second
Final Four appearance in the last three years by keeping things decidedly
old-school: They recruit players that fit their program, develop them over
time, and then they lean on them when it matters the most.
"It comes down to culture," Smith said. "Having what we have here in the last
four years is really special. I think we've had maybe four transfers in my four
years that we have had, and I think that's pretty special, and not a lot of
teams ever have that."
It's unique in college basketball, to be sure, but not necessarily unique in
the Sweet 16.
In fact, the NCAA Tournament this year has underscored the value of continuity
within a program, and that simply restocking with a new wave of transfers each
offseason is not necessarily the best way to build a championship roster.
Five teams still alive have at least four starters who have played multiple
seasons for their current coaches, according to a roster survey from The
Associated Press, and nine of the 16 have at least three. Duke and Michigan
State have starting lineups that consist entirely of guys who have played
nowhere else in college, and 11 of the 16 teams have at least three such
starters.
Those numbers exist despite the fact that Iowa (Ben McCollum) and Texas (Sean
Miller) have new coaches, and both were forced to mine the transfer portal
after the typical and unavoidable outflow of players from the previous regime.
At Purdue, Smith --- now the NCAA career assists leader --- and Loyer have been
starters the last four years. Kaufman-Renn, also a senior, has been in the
starting lineup the last three. Together, they are tied for the winningest
class in school history.
"Who wouldn't want to stay?" Smith asked. "Obviously if our situation was
different, whatever. For us just being around a great group of people as a
whole, the community at Purdue, the coaching staff, just staff in general ---
it just makes it super special."
In the case of the Hawkeyes, four of the starters --- Bennett Stirtz, Tavion
Banks, Cam Manyawu and Kael Combs --- followed McCollum from Drake, creating
the same sort of continuity. The other starter, Jacob Koch, played for Fran
McCaffery at Iowa last season.
"We've got really loyal kids, and I knew that going in," said McCollum, who two
years ago was coaching Division II ball. "Whether or not they're perfect ---
they're not. We've got our issues, I've got my issues, but what they're perfect
at is loyalty, and they're tough, and they've established a foundation and a
solid core."
The Hawkeyes' in-state rival, Iowa State, is back in the Sweet 16 behind Tamin
Lipsey, a fourth-year senior who grew up near its campus in Ames. Milan
Momcilovic and injured forward Joshua Jefferson have been with T.J. Otzelberger
for multiple years.
Over time, they have embraced what it means to be a part of the Cyclones
program.
"We have a lot of pride that this program continues to do really well,"
Otzelberger said, "and the consistency of it means a whole lot to us. We're
going to continue to have those work habits that reflect that day-in and
day-out."
Spartans coach Tom Izzo doesn't just have five starters that he recruited out
of high school but four who have stuck with him at least three seasons. That
includes Carson Cooper and Jaxon Kohler, a pair of college basketball unicorns:
fourth-year seniors.
"When you end up coaching and you have guys for three and four years, they do
become like your own kids," Izzo said. "In fact, I spent more time with some of
my players than I did my own kids as they were growing up. I'm not really proud
of that, just the fact of life."
Yet it's a somewhat pleasant way of life for those who remember what college
sports was before administrators began chasing money above all else, and
players followed suit. Teams were embraced by fans when March Madness rolled
around because they had watched their players grow up; they had a vested
interested after years of shared joy and suffering.
In some ways, this year's Sweet 16 is a throwback to an increasingly bygone era.
"I kind of go back to just how we are right now, even in like, our meals in the
hotel rooms, and just hanging out with the guys. I think that's something that
we're all going to take for granted at some point," Cooper said. "When we
graduate, wherever the next step takes us, we're going to think back and wish
that we were back there, being able to hang out with the guys."
___
AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and
coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
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