Tom Crean has had plenty of battles with Matt Painter during his nine years at Indiana (2008-17). So, if there’s anyone outside of West Lafayette who could tell you why Purdue has had so much success under the 20-year coaching veteran, Crean is a pretty strong candidate.
Now in his 20th season at Purdue, Painter has led the Boilermakers to five Big Ten regular season championships, two Big Ten Tournament titles, 15 NCAA Tournament appearances and a trip to the Final Four.
What’s been unique about Painter’s success — especially recently — is that he hasn’t depended heavily on the transfer portal for talent. Sure, the Boilers added David Jenkins in 2022-23 and Lance Jones in 2023-24, but much of Purdue’s production has come through recruiting and developing high school talent.
On Thursday, Crean joined Queary & Company on 107.5 The Fan in Indianapolis to talk college basketball. During the discussion with host Jake Query, the former Hoosiers coach was asked if Painter could sustain the same level of success using his same recruiting method.
“I think he can. I think he can because he identifies people so well,” Crean said. “I wasn’t in Indiana when Braden Smith was coming out, but the more you watch him, I’d like to think that I would have said, ‘Hey, that’s a Jordan Hulls-type guy. A little bit different body, but that’s Jordan Hulls.
“Matt was smart enough to go (recruit) him.”
To Crean’s point, Smith was a three-star prospect who didn’t receive a ton of attention on the recruiting trail. But in his third season in West Lafayette, the junior point guard is the favorite to win Big Ten Player of the Year and is averaging 16.4 points, 8.6 assists, 4.6 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game.
Painter also recruited Zach Edey out of high school, another three-star prospect who had a limited number of offers. The 7-foot-4 player went from a role player coming off of Purdue’s bench to being a two-time National Player of the Year.
“He’s a developer, there’s no doubt about that —they develop their players,” Crean said. “You could go back 30 or 40 years and have a hard time finding somebody that improved more from start to finish than Zach Edey. Not just because he was big, but the versatility that he built.
“Back when I was coaching against him, he morphed into different systems and styles based on his personnel … I think that’s why it would work for him — the evaluation.”
More than anything, though, Crean believes that Painter’s process for evaluating talent works so well because everyone on his staff is working on the same page. That’s a huge advantage in today’s era of college basketball.
“At Purdue, it’s not about who the assistants want, it’s not about who the assistants migrate to, it’s not about what their favorites are, it’s certainly not about the rankings, it’s about how do they fit Matt Painter,” Crean said. “And I think that’s exactly why it works, and I think it’ll continue to work.”
Great convo today with @TomCrean
-What he loves about Braden Smith
-What makes Matt Painter special
-Thoughts on Indiana’s situation
-Would he go back to I.U.?
Fun & informative chat. https://t.co/F3vzzorFsm— Jake Query (@jakequery) February 13, 2025
SMITH COMPARED TO CURRY: Michigan assistant coach Mike Boynton recently told CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander that Purdue’s Braden Smith is the second-best point guard he’s coached against. The only one better was Davidson’s Steph Curry. CLICK HERE
SMITH TOP-5 SELLER AT NIL STORE: Purdue was among the top-three schools and Braden Smith was among the top-five male athletes in sales for the month of January at the NIL Store. CLICK HERE
SMITH ON WOODEN WATCH LIST: Braden Smith is among 20 players named to the midseason watch list for the 2025 Wooden Award. The Purdue guard averages 16.4 points and 8.6 assists per game. CLICK HERE
KAUFMAN-RENN TAKES ACCOUNTABILITY: Trey Kaufman-Renn may have had a big night for the Boilermakers, but he was only thinking about the mistakes made in Purdue’s 75-73 loss to Michigan. CLICK HERE
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