SELLERSBURG, Ind. — Purdue hasn't made it to a Final Four in over 40 years. But now, southern Indiana will have another reason to be cheering the Boilermakers on, thanks to a personal connection.
Purdue's forward Trey Kaufman-Renn graduated from Silver Creek High School.
During his 21-year tenure as head coach, Brandon Hoffman has seen a lot of success. Especially during the years Kaufman-Renn played.
The Dragons won two State Championships, and Kaufman-Renn was recognized as Kentucky's Gatorade Player of the Year.
But now, he's doing something no former player of Hoffman's has ever done.
He's playing in a Final Four.
"Like anyone in southern Indiana, you know, in the last 50 years? Who starts for a Final Four team. I mean, it's kind of like a fairy tale, right?" Hoffman said.
And it's not only him. The entire area is witnessing history.
Basketball is in Kaufman-Renn's blood; his mother and his grandparents all played at Silver Creek High School, and two of his uncles also played at the collegiate level Hoffman said.
Kaufman-Renn put in the work early, separating himself from the pack back in high school.
"People see the big strong guy that kind of makes it look easy sometimes," the head coach said. "But he was in the gym for thousands of hours."
During open locker rooms in Phoenix, Kaufman-Renn reflected on that hard work.
"Just building those fundamentals with Coach Hoffman," he said. "Just everyday you had to go in and compete and practice and work hard. "
Now he's putting southern Indiana on the national stage.
"There's a lot of talent down there in southern Indiana," Kaufman-Renn said. "Not a lot of scouts or media cover it, but it is really cool to represent southern Indiana."
And this Saturday, his southern Indiana community will be cheering for both him and Purdue on to a National Championship.
"The announcers will say, 'from Sellersburg, Indiana, Silver Creek High School, two time state champion,'" Hoffman said. "And I still kind of get goosebumps."
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