INDIANAPOLIS — Purdue coach Matt Painter has earned a reputation as one of the brightest minds in college basketball. It’s not just his knowledge of the game, it’s also his ability to provide a thoughtful outlook on the climate of the sport and how things are changing.
Thursday, Painter provided us with another incredible example of why he’s the go-to coach in college basketball when discussing the current landscape of the sport.
It’s well-documented that there are no mid-major conferences represented in this year’s NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. For decades, the upsets have been a catalyst behind the growth and popularity of March Madness.
So, has the transfer portal and NIL had a negative impact on this tournament?
“March Madness, and we’ve been on the wrong end of this a couple of times — the upsets and how valuable the upsets are to the common fan, it’s created March Madness,” Painter said. “Let’s not get away from it. It’s a big piece of March Madness … Now, time’s going to tell how true that is, right? Obviously, it looks like it’s trending that way, but we’ll see through data.”
In this year’s Sweet 16, there are seven teams from the SEC, four from the Big Ten, four from the Big 12 and one from the ACC. Granted, this is the first time in 40 years we’ve seen this type of dominance from four leagues, but it was a question worth asking.
The impact of the transfer portal and NIL on the NCAA Tournament really isn’t the greatest concern for Painter. Instead, he believes the current landscape of college basketball is really hurting high school recruits.
“We sit on a lot of committees, and I’ve put a lot of time into it. That was the one thing, when the portal kept going and they were allowing guys to — it started with the one-time transfer, right? And now you can transfer whenever you want,” Painter said. “And we really talked about that … everyone’s a high school recruit at one point. It’s now taking away from the high school recruit and his opportunities. We didn’t want that.”
Over the years, Painter has talked frequently about how important the “education piece” is when it comes to recruiting high school prospects to play at Purdue. It’s something he values immensely.
He’s afraid that, at some point, the current state of college basketball will begin to take away some of those educational opportunities.
“These opportunities for these young men and women to take is not just like getting an all-conference plaque on the wall. It’s allowing them a better opportunity to have a successful life and have their family,” Painter said. “Not for everybody. Some people are going to be successful. Their dad went to college. Their grandfather went to college. Their great-grandfather went to college. You could go on and on and on.
“Some people come from a single-parent home, some didn’t go to college, whatever. If we’re just chasing basketball and we’re devaluing education, what are we really doing here?”
In the first two days of the transfer portal opening, more than 1,200 men’s college basketball players entered their name into the database in order to explore new opportunities. Obviously, there’s nothing stopping those individuals from chasing new dreams.
For Painter, though, he views the massive transfer portal number through the lens of those players who may not get another opportunity. Instead of taking advantage of their current situation, there’s a chance they could be throwing their opportunity away.
“I don’t like when you have 200, 300, 400, 500 kids put their name in the portal and they had a scholarship and now they don’t. What about them?” he said.”You’re saying that kid should be able to do what he wants. People that are successful don’t always do what they want; they do what’s best for them. And we get away from that. But that’s what we’re here for. We’re here to help them and fight them but also be an advocate for them in that fight.”
Right now, there really isn’t a good solution to the transfer portal conundrum. But Painter and others are dedicated to figuring it out — in the interst of the student-athletes, college basketball and March Madness.
PURDUE WILL BE ACTIVE IN PORTAL: During his Thursday press conference ahead of the Sweet 16, Purdue coach Matt Painter said he and his staff to bring in a “guy or two” from the transfer portal. CLICK HERE
ERTEL NAMED TO SUPREME 15: Future Purdue guard Luke Ertel has been named to the 2024-25 Underclass “Supreme 15” by the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association following a stellar season. CLICK HERE
HUMMEL ON RADIO CALL: Former Purdue star and college basketball analyst and broadcaster Robbie Hummel will be on the call for Friday’s Sweet 16 matchup between Purdue and Houston. CLICK HERE
BILAS GIVES KEYS FOR PURDUE: What will it take for Purdue to get past Houston, Tennessee or Kentucky and make a run to the Final Four? ESPN’s Jay Bilas breaks it down for the Boilermakers. CLICK HERE
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