He's Purdue basketball's all-time winningest player, but Caleb Furst is so much more

He’s Purdue basketball’s all-time winningest player, but Caleb Furst is so much more

Posted by author March 4, 2025 Basketball

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WEST LAFAYETTE − Brandon Brantley was infatuated with a prospective frontcourt of Caleb Furst and Trey Kaufman-Renn.

At the time, the two were the best high school players in Indiana and both were Purdue basketball bound to be mentored by Brantley, the Boilermakers’ big man coaching guru.

It took nearly three-and-a-half seasons and a unique series of circumstances, but here we are.

“I kind of dreamed about this when they were in high school,” Brantley said.

Furst’s return to the starting lineup provided a pivotal impact in what is yet another 20-win season for the Boilermakers, Purdue’s fourth straight.

When Furst is recognized Tuesday night following Purdue’s senior night, it will be as the winningest player in program history.

The only senior on the roster, Furst has been a part of 112 Purdue victories in his four seasons entering Tuesday’s game against Rutgers. But that’s only part of the story.

“For me, something that is always in my mind is basketball is something that I do, but at the end of the day, it doesn’t define me,” Furst said. “It’s not who I am.”

Purdue basketball paves path to Caleb Furst’s future

The Boilermakers were in the midst of a prolific NCAA tournament run last season, but in the corner of a locker room in Detroit’s Little Caesars Arena sits Caleb Furst with a laptop open and a notebook to his side.

He’s not watching film, but rather spending a free moment of his Saturday studying genetics just one day before the Boilermakers face Tennessee in an Elite Eight matchup.

Academically, Furst’s junior year challenged him more than any other. In addition to working towards a pre-med degree, Furst also was preparing for the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) and plotting engaging to his girlfriend, former Purdue volleyball player Maddy Chinn. They’ll marry in May.

Someday he’ll be known as Dr. Furst and make an impact in his adult life far greater than anything he did on a basketball court.

Basketball was always a path to something bigger. Faith, family and school all took importance above athletics.

Sometimes that earned Furst unjustified critics.

“In this era of social media and everything, you’re getting everybody’s opinion and people are saying you should be caring about this,” Brantley said. “The kid wants to be a doctor. Just because he’s passionate about school doesn’t mean he’s not passionate about basketball. He’s looking at the long play and I don’t blame him one bit.”

At 6-foot-10, Furst was gifted rare size and he added to it an equally rare skillset that made him a top 100 recruit in the Class of 2021.

Furst knew, using basketball, he could set himself up for life after basketball.

“Being able to get a scholarship, it provides you with a lot of great opportunities upon completion of graduation, whether you’re going to go play a few more years or going straight into work or if you want to do more school,” Furst said. “When it comes to Purdue and the prestige of the university and the connections that you can make, it affords us student-athletes unique and great opportunities you may not get at other universities.”

Highs and lows

Brian Waddell and Trey Kaufman-Renn redshirted as members of the 2021 Purdue basketball recruiting class.

Furst, though, was a starter immediately.

As a true freshman, Furst started the first 12 games of the 2021-22 season, averaging 6.2 points and 5.8 rebounds before being utilized as a reserve come January. Furst saw his minutes decline during the Big Ten season, but did score 10 points in 21 minutes in a first-round NCAA tournament win over Yale.

As a sophomore, following an injury to Mason Gillis, Furst again was thrust into a starting role for 21 games. By his junior year, while Furst was enduring his most rigorous academic stretch, playing time all but disappeared.

Furst averaged less than 10 minutes per game.

“You’ve got to have things that keep you grounded and keep you focused on important things. For us in our family, that’s our faith,” said younger brother Josh Furst, who followed Caleb’s path to playing basketball at Purdue and is now his roommate. “That’s always good to help you stay patient through circumstances like that where you’re not exactly where you want to be at any particular moment.”

Despite the lack of playing time after seeing a significant role in each of his first two seasons, Furst never let it affect his demeanor.

Furst never showed up in a bad mood, never a sign of negative body language, according to Brantley. Instead, Furst became the best practice player he could, bodying up National Player of the Year Zach Edey or Kaufman-Renn as a daily simulation of the Big Ten’s physicality.

“In this day and age, we’re so wired now as a society where if you don’t get what you want right away, if it doesn’t happen for you, the solution is to just leave,” Brantley said. “High major college basketball is hard, I don’t care if you’re the least ranked player in the country or you’re a McDonald’s All-American.

“He’s seen the highs and lows of college basketball, but it’s a huge credit to him to stay here and persevere.”

‘Have joy in the moment’

Last year’s senior day honored six players, a ceremony that ran extra long because one of them was Edey.

On Tuesday night, Furst will be the lone honoree.

It’ll be short and sweet, but should recognize the impact Furst had at Purdue, one not seen by fans as he fell in and out of favor as his production — and role — fluctuated over four seasons.

Furst never sulked, never was a bad teammate and along the way set an example for younger players finding themselves in similar situations to model.

“It’s hard to be consistent when you get those (limited) minutes, but as long as you’re in, you can do something positive,” said freshman Raleigh Burgess, averaging 6.8 minutes per game. “He’s always done that, so I can definitely learn from him on that sort of thing.

“It’s just the mindset. He’s shown day in and day out that he’s going to work hard.”

That hard work elevated Furst into the starting lineup at Minnesota on Jan. 2.

Furst was inserted to be a defensive matchup against Gopher leading scorer Dawson Garcia, but Purdue’s lone senior also provided 11 points and six rebounds in 30 minutes. Two weeks later, Furst had career-highs of 15 points and four steals to help the Boilermakers rally from a double-digit deficit at Washington.

And Purdue’s defense was vastly improved, the initial reason Furst saw his minutes spike.

“We were probably better than we ever thought we could be,” said assistant coach Paul Lusk, in charge of Purdue’s defense. “Part of it is particular matchups, but there’s no doubt his length and ability to switch things up, keeping guards in front of him but also dealing with big guys was really a bonus for us.”

In Furst’s own words, basketball is something he does, but not who he is.

But there’s no denying he’s been successful at it.

Over a combined eight seasons of high school and college basketball, Furst’s teams are a combined 217-39. He’s played in two Indiana high school state championships (winning both) and an NCAA title game.

“The same perspective I’ve tried to have throughout my whole career is just taking it a day at a time and being thankful each and every day, being thankful each and every game, each and every practice,” Furst said. “Have joy in the moment, which is something I’ve tried to do throughout my career. It’s something I am going to continue to do until the last game of my career.”

Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at sking@jconline.com and follow him on X and Instagram @samueltking.