Dylan Painter was never supposed to play this season. Not because he wasn’t good enough, and not because he didn’t earn it. Painter was supposed to be a red-shirt. His first year on campus was supposed to be about developing his game and focusing on an engineering degree.
But instead Omari Spellman was forced to the bench with an academic red-shirt and Painter was asked to help fill out a front court that was already facing depth issues. It’s not the first time this has happened. Former player and now coach Mike Nardi was supposed to red-shirt his freshman season before an injury to Curtis Sumpter and a short bench required the rookie to “learn by doing.