How Matt Painter changed his recruiting philosophy to better Purdue basketball

Purdue basketball coach recruits high school players and the transfer portal differently than most. He detailed his approach on the "Athletics of Business" podcast.

The Boilermakers were national runner-up in 2024 have five Big Ten regular-season championships and 10 NCAA tournament appearances in the last 11 seasons.

After Purdue basketball missed the 2013 and '14 NCAA tournaments, coach Matt Painter decided he had to change the way he recruited and built his team.

"The one thing we can fix that we don't want to fix is ourself," he said on the " Athletics of Business " podcast.

Painter decided to eschew some of the common approaches to recruiting, such as telling a player only what he wants to hear.

"(I'd be) giving a dissertation, and part of me is saying, 'What does he want t