March 13, 2026, 5:11 p.m. ET
CHICAGO — On Thursday night, Braden Smith took flight.
On Friday afternoon, it was a T-shirt.
The Purdue basketball senior point guard’s spectacular defensive play turned into creative assist, one of Smith’s Big Ten Tournament record 16 on Thursday against Northwestern, has been turned into an NIL opportunity.
Smith’s dive is emblazoned on a black T-shirt available through the Purdue NIL store. It will be available for purchase Friday night at the United Center during the Big Ten Tournament.
Smith’s performance helped the Boilermakers defeat Northwestern 81-68 in the third round of the Big Ten Tournament at United Center. Smith and Purdue continue play at 6:30 p.m. Friday against Nebraska in the quarterfinals.
The play of the night — and inspiration for the new T-shirt — came with under six minutes left in the first half when Smith poked a pass intended for Northwestern’s Nick Martinelli toward the sideline. Smith’s full extension Superman dive allowed him to volley it ahead to a sprinting Omer Mayer for a layup.
Smith enters the game 32 assists shy of breaking Bobby Hurley’s NCAA career record of 1,076.
Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at sking@jconline.com and follow him on X and Instagram @samueltking.
