To see Purdue coach Matt Painter on a Tuesday morning in February is to see him in his element: a mess of neon-striped notes spread before him at the head of an oval conference table, game tape paused on the projection screen in the meeting room he treats as his office. At home you might find him at the foot of his bed, reviewing film on his 80-inch flatscreen, Bob Seger blaring from the speakers. When he's had enough screens, Painter is content to kick back and read ... about basketball. "I'm really simple," he says.
In a field heavy with teams that don't fit the norm—strict and suffocating Virginia, young and lottery-bound Duke, perimeter-oriented Villanova, relentlessly pressing West Virginia—the Boilermakers' style is as straightforward as the man at their helm.