A few weeks ago, Purdue head coach Matt Painter was named one of 15 finalists for the Naismith Coach of the Year award. Today, that list was reduced to ten of the best coaches across the country, and Matt Painter was on that list.
Painter certainly deserves this recognition. In case you have been under a rock for the last couple of months, you have probably heard that Purdue lost 4 starters to graduation from last year’s 30-win season. After a slow start that bottomed-out with a bad loss to Notre Dame, Purdue ended up surging during conference play.