Purdue University hired Matt Painter as its college basketball coach in 2005 and his tenure with the program has been an overwhelming success. Apparently, a large portion of the Boilermakers’ achievements stem from a unique approach on the recruiting trail.
Painter vets his top prospects by trying to catch them with their girlfriends.
Even though his strategy is as weird as it sounds, it is actually not that uncommon and there is some logic to the madness. His goal is to determine whether the high school athletes are locked in on their craft or if they are messing around!
Painter, 54, recently explained that he will often call recruits just to check in. Or so they think. In reality, their potential future head coach is trying to figure out where they are and what they’re doing.
If a recruit does not answer multiple calls without providing an explanation, that’s a red flag. If a recruit picks up at a party, that is also a red flag. More specifically, Painter wants to see if they’re in the gym or “with their girl.” The latter could also be a red flag.
Matt Painter answering recruiting questions is always the best.
— Israel Schuman (@ischumanwrites) September 24, 2024
He’ll tell you how he built the best program in the Big Ten. Today’s tip? Part of Painter’s vetting routine is apparently calling recruits to see if they’re in the gym or “with their girl.”
Watch: pic.twitter.com/pYh5CMdDoq
Painter’s approach might sound creepy. And to some extent, it might be.
With that being said, Purdue is not the only college sports program to think this way. Coaches obviously want their players to be locked in at all times.
Mike Leach famously criticized his players for spending too much time “eating fish sandwiches” with their “fat little girlfriends” after a loss. He shared the same philosophy as Painter, he just presented it in a different way and in a different context.
Leach and Painter aren’t alone with this ideology. They just said it out loud while other coaches operate with similar thought in silence.
Star ratings are not as important to Matt Painter as “competitive spirit.” And to his credit, the blueprint seems to work.
[A recruit’s] competitive spirit is a big thing. His skill is a big thing. And then his overall success.
When you look into it, you say, “Hey, does a guy play the right way? Do his teammates like him? Does he care about his teammates?” All those variables. We haven’t done a better job recruiting the last 10 or 11 years, we’ve done a better job evaluating. Our ability to evaluate to know what works, but it starts with competitive spirit, there’s no doubt about that.
— Matt Painter
Purdue averaged the eighth-ranked college basketball recruiting class in the Big Ten from 2014-23. It never ranked higher than fourth in the conference. Despite its middle-of-the-road status in recruiting, all the Boilermakers do is win.