Growing up just 15 minutes north of Louisville, in Sellersburg Indiana, Trey Kaufman-Renn was a four-star recruit coming out of high school.
Being such a highly-ranked recruit and growing up in southern Indiana, his decision where to go to college was scrutinized by fans. Kaufman-Renn was sought after by Indiana, Louisville and many other colleges.
Two businesses in Sellersburg, Hoopster’s Sports Grill and Couch’s Body Shop, even put the message, “Trey Kaufman please choose IU”, up on their roadside sign.
Ultimately, Kaufman-Renn made the decision to attend Purdue. He stated the reasons being it was the best fit for him in coaching and academically.
“I thought he made a smart decision,” head coach Matt Painter said about Kaufman-Renn choosing to come to Purdue. “With the success we've had with big guys and our relationship with him, I thought this was the right place for him.”
At the time he was the highest-ranked recruit on Purdue’s roster and still is.
Yet being the highest-ranked recruit didn’t garner him any playing time. He had to compete with centers Trevion Williams and Zach Edey.
So, with counsel from Painter, Kaufman-Renn chose to red-shirt his first year on the team.
This season he has only had to compete with one player at his position. The bad news is, however, that player is the best college basketball player in the nation.
Edey is the odds favorite to win the NCAA Naismith player of the year award, according to oddsshark.com. So that means any time Edey needs a break Kaufman-Renn is subbed in, but every time Edey is ready to play Kaufman-Renn is immediately subbed back out.
“A little bit of (Kaufmann-Renn) not playing has been circumstantial,” Painter said. “I have a guy dominating, drawing a lot of fouls, getting rebounds. And so sometimes he’s not coming out as much as Zach is going back in.”
Kaufman-Renn averaged 15 minutes per game to start the season.
After the loss to Rutgers, Painter has made the choice to play Edey for more and more minutes. This has led to Kaufman-Renn only averaging 8 minutes per game since.
In that little amount of time, Kaufman-Renn failed to score more than two points or grab more than 3 rebounds in a single game.
Painter sat down with him to talk about his performance.
“Coach Paint and I sat down and talked,” Kaufman-Renn said. “(He said) that he has confidence in me and my ability.”
Painter assured the young athlete that the reduction in minutes and production was not an indictment on him.
“When you have those struggles you start to doubt yourself and you start to doubt what people think of you, especially the head coach,” Painter said. “So that's all I was saying to him.”
Coach Painter then said he told Kaufman-Renn was “a good player” and that all he needed to do was “be simple and get some positive plays”.
After the meeting took place, Purdue traveled to take on Michigan. Kaufman-Renn wasn’t given an increase in minutes for that game.
But with the nine minutes he was given, Kauffman-Renn scored eight points. He had an on/off of plus six.
In the following game against Michigan St, he scored 4 points. Against Penn State the center scored 4 points and picked up 2 assists.
The most recent game for Kaufman-Renn saw him turn the ball over and miss a free-throw. Such small mistakes led to a -8 on/off for the Boilermaker and was a part of the reason Purdue lost to Indiana.
Kaufman-Renn may play the smallest role on the team but its importance cannot be understated.
The seemingly small stat line averages out to 22 points per 40 minutes.
The meeting with Coach Painter appeared to have a positive impact on the young athlete, boosting his confidence to help him make the most of his playing time. Trey Kaufman-Renn even said it himself when he was asked about his recent performances.
Kaufman-Renn was so assured of himself that begged coach Painter to keep Edey in the game when he was two points away from scoring 40 against Michigan State.
"I was the one trying to get (Kauffman-Renn) in at the end," Painter said after the game. "But he was the one that said, let's get him 40 points."
Painter relented at first putting Edey back into the game to give him the chance, but decided against it after one possession, taking Edey out.
“I was mad at coach Paint for that,” Kaufman-Renn said while laughing. “Obviously you want to see your teammates do something special. I want (Edey) to get as many accomplishments as he can.”
A big reason for Purdue’s success this year has been the simple fact many of the players lift each other up. David Jenkins and many others on the team have said they want other players to succeed, not themselves.
Kaufmann-Renn plays a small role for the team but his grace and acceptance of the situation are one of many reasons the team is the No.1 ranked team in the country.
Look for Kaufman to step up when Edey steps off the court in the coming games. There has to be someone who steps up every time the best player on the court steps off, and this year it's been him.
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