Purdue hosted 2026 four-star CB Zyntreacs Otey for an unofficial visit on Friday, where the Boilers continued to impress the talented defender.

as he started his college career at Tennessee.

Most teams are after the the best players they can possibly get.
Most of the best players have goals of playing at the next level.
The next level is looking for offensive players, and perhaps more specifically, good shooters.
Assuming there are a limited amount of of good shooters and they are naturally spread throughout D1 (with the concentration at the top with perhaps 1 or 2 on some of the blue bloods), what happens when those teams meet a team that stresses defense and post play (neither of which are players being "coached up" for the next level)?

When you add stability (3-4 year players) and a great coaching I think you have a pretty good recipe for long term success.

Just my musings on a foolish Monday morning after a great moment in Boilermaker sports.

…. To a legendary team and season — let’s make these sweet Mount-era throwbacks our PERMANENT hoops uniforms.

That same classic design - in black, old gold, or even charcoal gray - would be an awesome look on the road 😎

Purdue vs Tennessee reginal final 'movie' ?

Mully and Haugh were picking best remaining coaches in each bracket, and picked Few over Painter. They said that Few would be more likely to be a difference maker in the game against Purdue. I called in to let them know Painter was 2-0 vs. Few, and that if Purdue lost I didn't think it would be because Few outcoached him. They weren't convinced.

There are the obvious Purdue vs 2019 UVA parallels, but let me point out two other ones I’ve been working on in my head ever since the brackets were revealed.

1. The Tennessee vs 2019 Purdue parallel

Tennessee comes out of the 2/3 matchup and is playing for their schools first ever final 4, and in that game has one of their generational players, an all American, have an incredible game and single handedly carry his team, but they get ultimately denied. Tennessee going for their first final 4 ever is not that dissimilar than Purdue going for their first in nearly 40 years, painters first. And Knecht going for 37 is pretty close to Edward’s 42. And being denied by a 1 seed seeking redemption after losing to a 16 seed the year prior.

I think our takeaway should be to assume this continues to play out. Tennessee will be the next 1 seed to lose to a 16 and then make a final 4 the following year. The one thing that could go wrong here is unlike Virginia and Purdue, Tennessee has awful fans and will absolutely fire Rick Barnes for losing to a 16 seed

2. The weird NPOY tournament matchup

I remember several years ago we as Purdue fans would ask “wait why is Frank Mason going to win all the NPOY awards and Biggie won’t win any of them?” And then we got thoroughly destroyed by Frank Mason and Kansas in the tournament. I remember a Kansas fan telling me “yea what you’re going through reminds me of what we went through a few years back. We had no idea why everyone was on Anthony Davis and no one was on Thomas Robinson for NPOY. Then we played Kentucky in the NCAA tournament and he destroyed us, we all sort of got to see it first hand.” Well that happened yesterday. There hasn’t been much chatter for anyone as NPOY other than Edey this year, but the chatter out there has been for Knecht, and I couldn’t help but think of the Biggie vs Frank Mason game, and by extension, the Thomas Robinson vs Anthony Davis game, when I saw the bracket come out. And for the Tennessee fans to see their NPOY candidate score 37 and not be the best player in the game, culminating in Edey blocking the shot that makes it a one possession game with under a minute to play, it’s just crazy to think that Kansas fans had their full circle moment and now Purdue fans have had theirs. Will be interesting to see if Tennessee gets an NPOy who has a similar match showdown

Anyone hear Kravitz ask Painter in post-game interview "what did you see from the top of the ladder and how did you feel?" and Painter answered that "you get a lot of sh*t from people on the other side, from rivals..." and basically talked about rival-supporting media. The answer didn't have much to do with the question. Sounded like a point-blank F.U. to Kravitz. Anyone else listen to that? Didn't even answer his question, just went on a tangent about media.

Before diving in, I want to extend my apologies to some of the folks here. Having been a part of this since 2006, I've grown accustomed to a certain result come March over the years. However, this tournament feels distinctly different from the past 15+ years, with the exception of perhaps 2019.

Moving on, what strategies do we need to employ to overcome Tennessee? Observing their aggressive ball pressure, I'm hopeful that Smith is fully recovered and prepared for the challenge. It's moments like these when I wish we still had Ivey, Kramer or Etwaun still on our team…

A lot of discussion on here about finally getting back to the Final Four, and rightfully so. However, we still have 2 games to win. Hope our guys keep the focus, because I firmly believe we can win the whole damn thing.

I hope Painter delivers Purdue to the Final Four this year.
I want Purdue to get there every year and win it all.

But until Painter does, you will have fans (including me) that think
Purdue should be playing 10 guys, more up-tempo, running people
out of the gym, and with big men like Robbie Hummel and JaJuan Johnson
that can space the floor for more driving angels and shot blocking abilities on defense.

I know it was only 1 game, but I loved what Booker from MSU showed. JJ 2.0 potential.
Purdue should have gotten him being from Indy. Flory Bidunga would have been nice, too.
With all the success JaJuan Johson had, Purdue should have had a couple more like him
by now.....someone that can block 15 foot jump shots from opposing big men, too. Cuonzo
Martin could flat out recruit,,,,,Baby Boilers. NIL aside, Painter needs a lead recruiter /
fundraiser like Cuonzo to give Purdue maximum opportunities to make the Final Four and often.

2025 looks like we are headed more in this direction, but Painter still should
play 9 or 10 guys big minutes the entire season including March.

2024 won't be Purdue's last chance to make the FF and win. The 2024 recruiting class is
encouraging, but Purdue needs classes like this on a consistent basis to maximize
yearly March Madness success. Because the Baby Boilers in 2007 was long ago.

Playing hard and shooting well is great, but you got to have the talent and athletic ability
as well to win big in March. Go Boilers!

It is a book I started reading in spare time...well at least time not on the computer. It is interesting so far, but probably better for an older basketball fan (so far) due to so many players mentioned as well as some differences back then and today. FWIW, Dave is not sharing any of the revenue with me. Many of the players I actually saw play, but obviously didn't really know what I was seeing as far as defense back then (60s) as I just enjoyed the game. Dave says in his book that there was no help defense back then. Everybody had a man. I guess I can't comment on it since I wasn't astute enough to know what I was seeing...and was a bit too young to dig that deep. He credits Bob Knight for the help defense in the 70s and no doubt Bob's rules have been a staple ever since.

I don't know that his phrase was 100% accurate since Hank Iba had already taken some zone principles into his man defense, and I actually had a defense book that I know was employed in the early 60s that was a precursor to the match up zone that was called the Rule Defense. Anyway, that was an interesting thing to me.

He talks about the difference off the court today and then for players for weight training, nutrition, living arrangements and so forth. I knew about the NCAA tourney as far as teams going and I knew about the NIT Tourney back then as well, but I didn't know about the Big Ten who only allowed the season champ to go to the tourney thoughts on the NIT. Essentially, the big would NOT allow teams to go to the NIT due to point shaving by players along with teams made up of players in different schools. The Big would not send teams to the NIT back then because they considered New York as sinful. Right or wrong the Big was trying to be a cut above. Anyway if someone finds interest in some of what I type you might enjoy the book.

Hell of a win.

Now or never boys!

Finally, Purdue fans have their moment.

So happy that you guys beat the hated Vols!!! Good luck in the Final Four!!!

In Tennessee they're both called Damn Yankees.

Down 11 and reeling. The defense and physical play was stifling.
Guys were frustrated and yelling at each other, etc
I told my wife "we're in trouble. We've got to get this down to 6 by halftime".
2 minutes later it was down to 1.
That was one really good team and we came back from 11 down.
I think (ok hoping) we play loose and easy (well, Hard easy) in the next 2.

In reading post game some tidbits on the Vols:
The little pg was not recruited by anyone (St.Peters offer I think), but has had 14 assists in a game.
His families house burned down and a Go Fund Me (or similar) campaign by TN and students raised 350k and built him a new house. You may look on that as you will.
And finally, he tore his ACL almost 13 months ago to the day.
That did not look like a kid 1 year after the knife. Damnnnnnnnnnn

And I'm not just saying that because I picked you guys to win the whole thing. I've been here a handful of times over the years complimenting Coach Painter, your program and the way you play. I truly admire all of it. I'm so glad good people and good basketball get rewarded. I love how you guys just get guys and go win. No fanfare. No headlines. Just wins. This IU diehard is truly happy for you all and is glad not only that your way of doing things is rewarded but that you as a fanbase get to experience the pure joy and pride of this run. You deserve it. Drink it up and continued good wishes.

can’t believe I’m asking this still…. (Someone wake me up)

NC state or Duke?

...is no longer the best coach in college basketball to never reach the Final Four.

Been a lot of people on this board who've doubted him over the years, but he has built just an incredible team and his development of players like Edey and Braden is absolutely incredible.