Purdue's Katie Gearlds Trying to 'Emulate' Culture, Success Matt Painter Built
Katie Gearlds is on a mission to build the Purdue women's basketball program into a Big Ten contender. To get there, she's utilizing a pretty good resource, a guy just across the hall: Matt Painter.
At Big Ten Women's Basketball Media Days on Wednesday, Gearlds was asked about the balance between retaining players, utilizing the transfer portal and recruiting. When it comes to finding a formula, the Purdue alum says she uses Painter as a resource.
"I think we've got a pretty good example in Matt Painter and what he does at Purdue," Gearlds said. "How those guys regularly come back and his culture — he doesn't have one-and-dones or two-and-dones. It's three-year, four-year players. They get to the National Championship Game with Zach (Edey) coming back.
"Matt is great. I get to go into his office and chat with him. We sit on the lake and talk together. I've got a pretty good resource in Coach Painter and would love to emulate what he's doing."
"i got a pretty good resource in Coach Painter there, and would love to emulate what he's doing."
— Purdue On BTN (@PurdueOnBTN) October 2, 2024
🗣️ @katiegearlds4 on @BoilerBall's @CoachPainter being a great example of how to build culture#B1GMediaDays x #B1GWBBall pic.twitter.com/RKCSc4kW1S
Painter has built a perennial power on the men's side in West Lafayette. The Boilermakers have won four of the last eight Big Ten regular season titles and are coming off a trip to the National Championship Game in 2024.
He's done it the old-school way — recruiting high school players who stick with the program. It's a difficult formula in today's era with NIL and the transfer portal altering the landscape, but the Purdue men's basketball team has found a lot of success with it.
Gearlds is hoping to build that same sort of culture on the women's side.
"We want to get Purdue back to the top of the Big Ten," she said, "Where it once was."
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HOW TO WATCH BIG TEN MEDIA DAYS: Big Ten Men's and Women's Basketball Media Days will be held in Chicago from Wednesday, Oct. 2 through Thursday, Oct. 3. CLICK HERE
ALL-BIG TEN PRESEASON TEAM ANNOUNCED: The 2024-25 All-Big Ten basketball team was announced on Tuesday. Purdue guard Braden Smith was the only unanimous selection. CLICK HERE
