What's next for Purdue after Sweet 16 loss? No longer business as usual for Boilermakers
INDIANAPOLIS — Purdue basketball coach Matt Painter used to give his players two weeks off after the season’s final game before regrouping with individual meetings about their futures.
The Boilermakers will still get their two-week break from basketball following Friday’s 62-60 Sweet 16 loss to Houston. They do not get a two-week break before they meet with Painter, though. He said those meetings will happen Sunday or Monday.
Purdue will add players via the transfer portal. Painter said he’s already visited one target. South Dakota State big man Oscar Cluff is scheduled to officially visit starting Sunday.
The old calendar and the old way of doing business no longer apply.
“You’ve got to be able to just sit down and talk — and some of them might not be there yet,” Painter said. “But you've just be frank and be honest and kind of talk about the way things are going forward.”
Painter’s philosophy toward the portal has been somewhat misinterpreted nationally. A graphic went viral on social media earlier this week showing Purdue as the only Sweet 16 participant with five players who began their careers at that school.
If a team does not lose players to the portal en masse, it cannot add them en masse. Painter has semi-regularly used the portal to enhance rosters which largely remain intact year after year.
Painter got his answers from Mason Gillis and Ethan Morton a year in advance. He knew he could recruit to those scholarship openings with his 2024 class.
The Boilermakers expect to be back at this stage of the NCAA tournament next year. If they do, it’s very likely that graphic will look at least a little more like the rest of the field.
Using the portal more aggressively means using NIL more extensively. When players were first eligible to earn income two years ago, the Purdue basketball approach was to more or less treat all players the same in terms of money coming from the collective, Boilermaker Alliance. Players were free to pursue outside endorsements and other opportunities, which have been lucrative for Zach Edey, Braden Smith and others.
That approach had already begun to evolve. It will likely change more significantly this offseason.
To begin with, other programs could potentially make aggressive overtures toward Purdue players. Smith and Trey Kaufman-Renn, both potential preseason All-Americans, obviously go to the top of that list. Purdue should be well-positioned to compete financially, but it can also offer a culture and returning nucleus which is all but guaranteed to again contend for a Big Ten championship and deep tournament run.
To be frank, that’s a second, crucial part of any sales pitch which the football program could not make to the starters who transferred out after last season.
Further down the rotation, it's possible players could see larger roles elsewhere, not merely larger paychecks. Painter did not come right out and say he expects that to be a factor, but he strongly hinted at it.
“If you don’t like where you are, improve,” Painter said. “Get better. That's the one thing we’ve tried to do with guys is dominate the summer. Dominate the fall. Get yourself in a better position than you are.
“Don’t look like you’re stuck where you are. Don't look at it like this is the best I can do, I’m coming off the bench. Don’t look at it that way. No one’s been promised anything in our program. Get to work. Get stronger, get quicker, get better and just keep plugging. That's what our program’s been about.”
At the same time, Painter said after Friday’s loss this team was not physical enough. He put the blame for that on himself, and while development is part of that equation, so is roster-building. It’s no coincidence Purdue has already been connected to frontcourt players.
College basketball is entering a potentially one-of-a-kind offseason. Assuming the House v. NCAA settlement passes judicial approval next month, revenue sharing goes into effect this fall. Athletic departments can pay athletes directly without relying on the philanthropy of boosters and other fans.
Teams have already received commitments from players in the portal, including some who were still active in the NCAA tournament entering the weekend. This calendar must supersede what Purdue has been accustomed to in the past in order for it to bolster its future.
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