Big Ten Basketball: Ranking all 14 head coaches for 2019-20 season

2. Matt Painter (Purdue)

This Boilermakers program has seen a remarkable level of success, mostly due to Painter and Gene Keady. The two impressive coaches have spanned nearly 40 years heading up this Purdue program. Unfortunately, neither has led this team to a Final Four, which remains a small stain on Painter’s otherwise successful record.

Painter played his college ball under Keady at Purdue before embarking on his coaching career. He’d spend a decade as an assistant, including five years under former Purdue assistant Bruce Weber at Southern Illinois. Painter got the Salukis’ top job in 2003 but would spend just one season at Southern Illinois. In 2004, he returned to Purdue as associate head coach, tapped to succeed Keady when he retired the following season.

Fourteen years later, Painter has kept the Boilermakers near the top of the Big Ten standings on a regular basis. Purdue has finished atop the standings in two of the last three seasons. Painter already made four Sweet Sixteens before this year’s squad fell just short of the Final Four, toppled by Virginia in a dramatic Elite Eight. The bottom line is that Purdue has been in the top three of the Big Ten more times than not under Painter and he’s done a fantastic job of continuing this program’s growth.

Unfortunately, as previously mentioned, he still lacks a Final Four, but he’s certainly not the only bigtime coach in this category. The past three years have been especially impressive for Painter, owning a 45-11 mark in conference play. He’s going to need a Final Four or two to have his name among the elite coaches in college basketball, but he’s done nothing short of building a solid program that constantly competes at the top of the Big Ten.