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Let’s Stay Together: Matt Painter Essential to Purdue’s Future

By Hashim R. Hathaway

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Everything’s fine until it isn’t; that certainly seems to be the case when it comes to the world of college basketball. Since taking over from long-time Purdue mainstay Gene Keady in 2005, head coach Matt Painter has been more than adequate, amassing six 20-win seasons and on the verge of a seventh in 10 seasons.

However, the last two seasons in West Lafayette have been less than generous to Painter, as the Boilermakers are coming off of back-to-back losing seasons and a last-place finish in the Big Ten last season, which has fans wondering whether or not he’s the man for the job anymore.

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As the Boilers head in to Bloomington on Thursday to face arch nemesis Indiana, they are a team at a crossroads. With only five games remaining in the season, they find themselves tied for second in the Big Ten at 9-4 along with #16 Maryland, but only one game ahead of three teams, including the Hoosiers, who they’ll flip-flop in the standings with if they lose.

After IU, the Boilers have consecutive road games against Michigan State and #24 Ohio State, and if they can’t win any of the three, they can find themselves not only falling to sixth, but in real danger of missing their third straight NCAA tournament.

This reality has fans questioning their coach, but to run him out of town, as a growing contingent want to do, could wind up killing the program for years to come.

Just as easy as it would be for Purdue to drop two or three of the upcoming must-win games and find themselves on the outside looking in, they could also win those games and find themselves solidly in second or third with 11 or 12 wins in a very competitive league.

Last month, ESPN Insider Jeff Goodman placed Painter eighth on his hot seat list. Naturally, once someone in the national media places a coach on some mythical list for firing, a fan base can go from simple murmurs to a cacophony of calling for a coach’s head.

If the Boilers sink the season and miss a third straight tournament, the cost to get rid of Painter would be $9.6 million.

Of course, it’s one thing to want to fire your head coach and another thing to deal with the economic realities behind it. In 2011 after a 26-8 season and a deep run in the NCAA tournament, Painter was all set to take over the Missouri head coaching gig, however Purdue successfully pitched him on an eight-year deal, keeping him in West Lafayette until 2019.

If the Boilers sink the season and miss a third straight tournament, the cost to get rid of Painter would be $9.6 million. Without significant issues within the program, such as players getting arrested or cheating on exams, the administration would be hard pressed to fire Painter and justify it financially.

Before sending Painter to the firing squad, Boiler fans should ask themselves: “Who will replace Painter?” Regardless of wins or losses, Purdue has never been an elite program, and it certainly wouldn’t be a hot destination for top-shelf coaches. Tony Bennett isn’t leaving Virgina for Purdue. Mark Few isn’t leaving Gonzaga for Purdue. Shaka Smart isn’t leaving VCU for Purdue, and Steve Lavin won’t leave St. John’s and bring back Keady with him (not that anyone is actually asking).

Losing Painter means that Purdue can look forward to a second-tier head coach or eager assistant looking to cut their teeth in the Big Ten, effectively murdering any actual opportunity for solid recruiting in 2015, up to and including landing current Indiana big man Caleb Swanigan, a 6-8 center from Fort Wayne, ranked eighth on ESPN’s top 100 list of high schoolers.

Recruiting is a tough game, and with schools like Butler and Valparaiso on the rise, getting solid in-state players will be a street fight at best. To remove a successful coach for a small number of unsuccessful seasons will absolutely set the program back years.

In fact, in a state with a life-long love affair with basketball, of the top five Indiana programs, Purdue has the highest number of Indiana natives on their roster with seven. For those in Indiana who want their schools to “secure the borders”, no one does it better right now than Purdue.

Make no mistake, Matt Painter and the Boilers face a virtual death march to close out the season, but regardless of the outcome, he is the man in West Lafayette, and to think otherwise is nothing less than foolish.

Next: Who’s There: Big Ten Conference Locks and Bubble Teams

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