Dean Irwin Weiser and CLA Alumni Board President Marty Welch on either side of Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, as he receives the CLA Distinguished Alumnus Award.

In 2004, when Purdue’s all-time-winningest coach Gene Keady and athletics director Morgan Burke began to discuss who would lead the men’s basketball program into the future, it didn’t take long for Matt Painter’s name to move to the top of their lists.

One of the best young minds in the game, Painter officially became Purdue’s 18th men’s basketball coach on April 1, 2005, after serving a year as associate head coach.

In four seasons as Purdue head coach, Matt Painter has become one of the nation’s hottest coaches and has the Boilermakers climbing back towards the top of the collegiate basketball world.During his four-year tenure, Painter has guided the Boilermakers to three 20-win seasons and three consecutive NCAA Tournament berths. The program’s 74 wins over the last three seasons are the second-most victories during any three-year period in program history. Painter’s 83 wins in four years are the most victories by any Purdue coach in his first four years as head coach.

The 2008-09 Boilermakers won 27 games and advanced to the Sweet 16, becoming the first Purdue team to advance that far in the NCAA Tournament since 2000. The 27 wins tie for the third-most victories in a single season in the 111-year history of the basketball program.
Painter’s Boilermakers added more hardware to the storied history of Purdue basketball as the Boilers won the 2009 Big Ten Conference Tournament in Indianapolis, the first tournament title for Purdue in the 12-year history of the event.

Painter was the 2008 Big Ten Coach of the Year, was a Naismith Coach of the Year finalist in 2008 and a USBWA Henry Iba Coach of the Year finalist in both 2008 and 2009.
Over the past three seasons, Painter has led Purdue to two second-place finishes in the Big Ten Conference, 35 wins in conference play and a 47-5 overall record in front of the home fans at Mackey Arena.

Painter played guard at Purdue from 1990 to 1993. He appeared in 109 games, with 50 starts. He averaged 4.5 points per game and totaled 276 assists. He was a team captain during the 1993 season, when he was named All-Big Ten honorable mention. He helped lead the Boilermakers to three NCAA Tournament bids and one NIT appearance during his playing career.

The Muncie, Ind., native holds an undergraduate degree from Purdue and a master’s from Eastern Illinois.  Painter and his wife, Jerri, have three children:  Maggie, Brayden, and Emma.