Pieces of History: Purdue Reportedly Purchasing Final Four Court Panels for Collectibles
Purdue fans will soon have an opportunity to own a piece of the Boilermakers' 2024 Final Four run. According to a report from Sportico, the athletic department is purchasing panels of the Final Four court from this year's event in Phoenix.
Sportico spoke with a representative of the Purdue men's basketball program who confirmed that panels were being purchased from the Final Four court. The Boilermakers reached the Final Four for the first time since 1980 and played in the national championship for the first time since 1969.
Purdue defeated Tennessee 72-66 in the Elite Eight to punch its ticket to the Final Four. The Boileramkers then took down North Carolina State 63-50 to compete for the national title.
UConn beat Purdue 75-60 to claim a second straight national championship. The Huskies are purchasing the center-court circle, per the report.
According to the report, Purdue is purchasing panels that will be used for "various collectibles and sold through a third-party memorabilia vendor." It was not disclosed how many panels Purdue purchased nor how much the school spent.
Purdue finished the 2023-24 season with a 34-5 record, winning a second straight Big Ten regular season. Zach Edey was also the Naismith National Player of the Year, becoming the first back-to-back winner of the award since Virginia's Ralph Sampson (1981-83).
Coach Matt Painter talked about how special it was for the program to finally reach the Final Four after coming so close so many times over the last 44 seasons.
"Obviously, the emotion, right? To be able to go to a Final Four, to see grown men wearing their Purdue colors, crying in the stands — heck everybody was crying," Painter said.
"It was a long haul, man. From losing to Fairleigh Dickinson in the tournament (last year) and for us to be able to sit in it and not run from it, and then able to achieve that. It was just a great honor, not just for our players and coaches, but for our fans and our entire institution."
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