3. Matt Painter (Purdue)
Purdue has been in some great hands over the last forty-five seasons under Gene Keady and now Painter’s leadership. Unfortunately, that great leadership hasn’t always materialized into on-court success, with last year’s Final Four run the program’s first during that stretch. Regardless for Painter, who played under Keady in the 90’s, there’s every reason to believe that this program could break through in the years to come.
After his playing career, Painter worked as a collegiate assistant at a few smaller schools, including a stretch under Bruce Weber at Southern Illinois. In fact, those Salukis gave Painter his first head coaching gig, though he’d leave after just one year to reunite with Keady at Purdue, succeeding him in 2005. Since then, Painter has won big games, secured five Big Ten titles, and coached some incredible players, notably two-time Player of the Year Zach Edey in recent years.
Purdue played in the national title game just one year ago and were back in the Sweet Sixteen this season. In fact, Painter has won 16 NCAA Tournament games in the last decade. With the right players in place, the Boilermakers could absolutely win their first title in program history under Painter’s leadership. It doesn’t matter what it took him to get to this point, it’s pretty clear that he and this program aren’t going anywhere, especially with how Braden Smith also became an All-American talent.