'Competitive Spirit' a Key Element in Matt Painter's Recruiting Process
Recruiting rankings don't matter to Purdue coach Matt Painter. When it comes to the players he wants to bring to West Lafayette, he trusts the evaluation process he's established with his staff over the years.
With so many recruiting websites available at the click of a button, it's easy to get lost in star ratings, player rankings and scout analysis. But Painter and his staff have stayed true to their methods, which has resulted in plenty of success over the last decade.
"Your competitive spirit is a big thing. Your skill is a big thing. And then your overall success," Painter said when talking about how Purdue evaluates talent.
"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."
From 2014-23, Purdue has averaged an eighth-ranked recruiting class in the Big Ten. The Boilermakers never had a class ranked higher than fourth in the conference. You might expect the program to find middle-of-the-road success with those results on the recruiting front.
All the Boilermakers have done in that stretch is win. In that 10-year window, Purdue has won four Big Ten regular season championships, a Big Ten Tournament title and reached the NCAA Tournament in all but one year (the 2019-20 season, when March Madness was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic).
Last year, Purdue finished with a 34-5 record, won a second straight Big Ten title and earned the program's first trip to the National Championship Game since 1969. Many believed that success would ultimately result in Painter targeting more five-star players on the recruiting trail.
Once again, Painter isn't planning on steering away from the plan that has brought his program so much success.
"That's the important piece, to keep getting guys of that nature," Painter said. "A lot of people say 'You've gone to a Final Four, you've won back-to-back Big Ten championships, now you can go get a better player.'
"And I'm like, 'No, we want to go get the same players that got us there.'"
In today's era of college basketball, Painter's approach to recruiting might feel outdated — especially to those outside of the program. Players are more concerned with NIL opportunities and playing time. If they're not receiving those offers, there's a quick desire to enter the transfer portal.
That's why Painter takes an honest approach to recruiting. He doesn't apologize for it, either. When he's evaluating a player, he values toughness and competitiveness over stars and ratings.
"They're coming to Purdue to win. If you're just going to school for an opportunity just to play — it's not recess," he sad. "If you're like, 'Hey, I don't know if I'm going to play there right away,' or 'It's going to be tougher to play there right away,' yeah, well, no shit.
"We're successful. We've won games. People we've signed weren't scared of that."
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