How 'The Purdue Way' reportedly defies college basketball roster spending

Because Purdue basketball prefers building its roster from within, it doesn't spend as much to lure players.

In a new report from CBS Sports, the Boilermakers are in the sixth tier (of seven) of college basketball spending, between $7.1 million and $9.9 million for the 2026-27 season. That's the same tier as Butler, and far below Indiana, which is in the second tier at just under $20 million.

CBS marvels at how Purdue gets quite a bang for its buck.

"Get a load of this: Purdue has won 12 NCAA Tournament games over the last five years. The other 13 teams in this tier have combined for eight Big Dance wins in that same five-year window, with three of them coming from Iowa last March. (Coach) Matt Painter has used brutal honesty and a humming offense to create an environment that most players don't want to leave, even if there is more money elsewhere.

"Purdue will take one graduate transfer to fill a specific void, but it doesn't mine the portal for multiple starters year after year. Finding hidden gems is the secret sauce. Painter saw that there was more than met the eye in Zach Edey and Braden Smith and developed them into All-American and/or National Player of the Year talents. The Purdue Way might be impossible to replicate. Marquette certainly tried to emulate the homegrown talent approach, but that turned sour in a hurry in 2025-26. Purdue still has not taken a single transfer who was not a graduate transfer in Painter's two-decade run leading the program. It's one of the wildest stats of the modern era of college basketball."

CBS used more than 100 sources during several weeks of research to gauge college basketball roster spending for 79 power conference teams and Gonzaga. The average roster costs $13.5 million this season, up from about $7 million last season. These are based on every team's current roster and their players' maximum earnings potential.

The average Big Ten school spends $12.7 million on its roster, lower than the SEC and the Big East, but more than the Big 12 and ACC.

CBS notes that fifth-year players who are currently permitted to play count toward a team's total, so that could fluctuate. Also, player incentives could change a team's spending total at the end of the season.