Purdue basketball coach Matt Painter on Boilers’ 2025-26 season
Purdue conducted its first practice on Monday ahead of the upcoming season. Hear what coach Matt Painter said afterwards.
WEST LAFAYETTE − The financial allotment for college athletes went from one extreme (legally nonexistent) to another when the NCAA instituted name, image, and likeness (NIL), allowing student-athletes to capitalize on their marketability.
The rich, essentially, got richer.
On Friday, a nearly half decade battle through the court system concluded with the NCAA settlement which allows schools to pay their athletes directly.
Purdue athletic director Mike Bobinski stated previously Purdue would be a full participant up to the cap limit, estimated at $20.5 million.
After Purdue basketball had its first summer practice on Monday, head coach Matt Painter, who currently serves as third vice president on the National Association of Basketball Coaches board of directors, was asked if college basketball got better based on the ruling.
“Some competitive balance is all we really want,” Painter said. “It wasn’t name, image and likeness before. This gives you more of a grasp of having a core amount of money to pay these guys, which is a lot less than the money that’s going on right now. And then, anything on top of it is real name, image and likeness.”
The idea behind name, image, and likeness was for college athletes to capitalize on their notoriety via avenues such as autograph signings, hosting sports camps, or appearing in advertisements, for example.
Painter mentioned specifically from his own program since the NIL went into effect the names of two-time National Player of the Year Zach Edey, selected ninth overall in last year’s NBA draft, and Braden Smith, the reigning Big Ten Player of the Year and Bob Cousy Award winner for the nation’s top point guard as marketable athletes who fit the supposed NIL idea.
“When everybody gets money, not everybody in Major League Baseball gets money in name, image and likeness and they’re in the big show,” Painter said. “If you watch a baseball game and there’s 52 guys on two rosters, tell me how many guys are on those commercials. Two? Three? Four? Five? Not very many. That’s the market. Not everybody is marketable that plays college basketball and gets paid. …
“There’s a lot of things that haven’t been fair across the board, so hopefully this equals things out a little bit.”
Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at sking@jconline.com and follow him on X and Instagram @samueltking.
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