NCAA Basketball: Purdue, Vols with head coaching hires from the year 2005

1. Matt Painter (Purdue)

For twenty-five years, Purdue had a great era of success under legendary coach Gene Keady, who announced his retirement in 2005. By then, the Boilermakers had slipped in recent years, having appeared in only one of the last five NCAA Tournaments. A plan of succession was already in place, and Purdue surely found the right man to take the reins from Keady.

Matt Painter had played guard for Keady more than a decade earlier before starting his own coaching career. He had served as an assistant at a few colleges, highlighted by a five-year stint under Bruce Weber at Southern Illinois. Painter spent a single season as head coach of the Salukis before Purdue brought him back home in 2004, where he spent one year as associate head coach before ascending to the top job.

For much of these last sixteen years, Purdue has been considered one of the best programs in the Big Ten. Painter has brought heaps of talent to West Lafayette and has led the Boilermakers to an Elite Eight and four Sweet Sixteens. Throw in a few Big Ten conference titles and consider how quickly Painter turned things around. His sustained success at his alma mater cements him at the top of this list.

At long last, we’ve finished our deep dive into the best coaching hires from 2005; but which of the hires do you think was the best?