Zach Edey’s move to the NBA meant, for many, that the Purdue Boilermakers were done and dusted. The Matt Painter-led team reached last year’s Championship Finals, propelled by Edey’s 25 points with 12 rebounds per game. However, as the 22-year-old was drafted by the Memphis Grizzlies, another 6-ft baller in Braden Smith replaced him as the leader. Initially, some analysts backed off from supporting the team despite Smith’s 15.5 ppg, 6 rpg, and 9.5 apg. But he’s not alone. As the Boilermakers continue to advance, winning all four of four games, they have once again earned the trust of their critics over their Big 10 rivals.

On Saturday’s episode of The Field Of 68: After Dark, Rob Dauster regretted the words that he had spoken about the Boilermakers at the beginning of the season and instead admitted that the tables had indeed turned for them.

“I’ve flip-flopped on this. I’ve gone the opposite of what I said in the preseason. I thought I wanted it to be Indiana and I think, I at this point… I’ve seen enough to say that I would be on the Purdue bandwagon here. I think that there is enough talent on that roster. To me, the win over Alabama really said a lot for a couple of reasons,” Dauster stated.

When the season had begun with Braden Smith replacing Edey, Dauster had opined that the Indiana Hoosiers are the team to look forward to in the Big 10 instead of Purdue. Citing that the Hoosiers “spent a lot of money and brought this class,” he was clear that they had no option but to win. However, as the tournament progressed, he changed his views and obviously, he has his reasons.

“One, you could run everything through Trey Kaufman-Renn and be able to get what you needed to get out of him to win one-on-one matchups. He did a lot against a guy that we thought was going to be an elite defender in Clifford Omoruyi. I think that Fletcher Loyer has shown that he has the ability this year to be a little bit more of a go-to guy. I don’t think he’s going to be a breakdown, the dribble guy. I do think that you can run some stuff for him that will be a little bit more creative and he can be a little bit more impactful,” Dauster backed his thoughts.

Despite Alabama’s exceptional defender Clifford Omoruyi (9.8 ppg; 7.8 rpg), the Boilermakers star Trey Kaufman-Renn scored a career-high 26 points on Friday night against the Crimson Tide, helping his team to an 87-78 win. Similarly, the Boilermakers have another offensive star in Fletcher Loyer who averages 17 points per game for the team. He was the team’s highest scorer in their first two games with 21 and 16 points, respectively.

“CJ Cox, man, like I think that dude is a rocket ship. I think that he is a guy that is going to, by the end of the year, be that secondary creator and playmaker that we needed, and you still got the opportunity for Myles Colvin and Camden Heide to take a step forward and oh, by the way! You might have the best point guard in America. I’m not saying you do but you might have the best point guard in America,” Dauster concluded.

Similarly, the Boilermakers have found another impressive athlete in CJ Cox who has given his best whenever the situation demands. For instance, he hit 12 points against Yale and 11 points against Alabama.

Dauster also praised Camden Heide and Myles Colvin who are trying to up their ante, which is evident by the 14 points Colvin scored against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Therefore, this looked like taking a U-turn after Dauster had previously chosen Indiana over Purdue.

Rob Dauster didn’t support Purdue initially

The Field of 68 hosts, before the season had begun, picked Indiana over Purdue. In an exclusive for Awful Announcing, Dauster was clear that Indiana was more talented. The Hoosiers have transfers such as Oumar Ballo and Kanaan Carlyle, who strengthen an already formidable Indiana team.

Notably, Ballo transferred from Arizona after averaging 12.9 points with 10 rebounds per game. Similarly, sophomore Carlyle averaged 11.5 points for Stanford last season.

“I think Indiana is the most talented team, and I would bet on Purdue being the team that has the best record. I trust Purdue and Matt Painter to find a way to win more games… It’s Indiana. If you don’t make the tournament, it doesn’t matter who you are, your seat’s going to be hot. They expect to win… This year, they spent a lot of money and brought this class, so you have to win. I also think they’re probably going to be able to do enough to win and get to the tournament.,” Dauster spoke while acknowledging that Purdue has a better all-time win-loss record.

They stand with 1947–1064 (.647) while the Hoosiers have a 1,934-1,117 (.634). Meanwhile, other basketball analysts had the same view on the Field of 68 podcast.

Hopefully, Dauster’s words will add fuel to the fire for Purdue, who will go ahead to somewhere push the Hoosiers below them as both are ranked at the top spot in Big Ten as of now. Plus, Smith will be happy since now he has backing from analysts.