Matt Painter was born in Fort Wayne, played point guard at Delta High School in Muncie and absolutely loved the Indiana Hoosiers.
He was a big fan too, having attended the 1987 title game and everything. There was nothing, absolutely nothing, Painter would have loved more than a scholarship offer to play college ball down in Bloomington.
An offer that never came.
Instead, Indiana took other freshmen guards: Greg Graham (Indianapolis), Chris Reynolds (Peoria, Illinois), Pat Graham (Floyds Knobs) and Todd Leary (Indianapolis). Oh and another guy named uuhhhh Calbert Cheaney. Him too.
Painter finished his career at Purdue with 276 career assists.