I have been a die hard Purdue Basketball fan since the first year that Keady coached in 1980. I want nothing more to see a Purdue team go to the final four in my life time, but at this time I do not see that happening. In my opinion we had 2 teams in Keady's 25 years that had the talent/makeup to be legitimate Final Four contenders and 2 teams in Painters 14 years
1. 1988 - Three Amigos - Lost to Kansas State and future NBA star Mitch Richmond.
2. 1994 - The Big Dog - Lost to Duke and future NBA star Grant Hill
3. 2010-2011 - The Baby Boilers - Hummel's injuries curtailed our chances.
The last two years we had very good teams but not teams that i considered talented / athletic enough to make a final four run (Even with a healthy Haas). My opinion we were a top 5 point guard away from being contenders.
Both the Keady and Painter years up to this year are similar in my eyes. We had some very good teams but we did not consistently have the talent to have more Final Four contending teams. To be a final four contender, we need more talent, a little luck and health. In my opinion Painter has not recruited enough talent to be final four contenders since the baby boilers. The last couple of years he has gotten our hopes up by being in the top 5 with many top recruits but has not been able to close on any of them. We have a nice class coming in 2019 with a top talent in Newman, but not a recruiting class that will combine with the present roster to be Final Four hopefuls. I personally do not see a Final Four in Painters future.
Its frustrating to see our main Big Ten rivals Michigan and Michigan State consistently put together Final Four contenders and now the new coaches at Indiana and Ohio State (Miller and Holtmann) are beating us regularly for top recruits. It looks like Ohio State may have a top ten class in Holtmann's 2nd year.
I will continue to be a die hard Boilermaker fan, but I don't see a Final Four
in the future unless things change.
Right now it looks like we have a football coach that is winning some recruiting battles with the top programs and hopefully Brohm will be here a while and can continue his recruiting success and build a football program that can contend in the near future.
1. 1988 - Three Amigos - Lost to Kansas State and future NBA star Mitch Richmond.
2. 1994 - The Big Dog - Lost to Duke and future NBA star Grant Hill
3. 2010-2011 - The Baby Boilers - Hummel's injuries curtailed our chances.
The last two years we had very good teams but not teams that i considered talented / athletic enough to make a final four run (Even with a healthy Haas). My opinion we were a top 5 point guard away from being contenders.
Both the Keady and Painter years up to this year are similar in my eyes. We had some very good teams but we did not consistently have the talent to have more Final Four contending teams. To be a final four contender, we need more talent, a little luck and health. In my opinion Painter has not recruited enough talent to be final four contenders since the baby boilers. The last couple of years he has gotten our hopes up by being in the top 5 with many top recruits but has not been able to close on any of them. We have a nice class coming in 2019 with a top talent in Newman, but not a recruiting class that will combine with the present roster to be Final Four hopefuls. I personally do not see a Final Four in Painters future.
Its frustrating to see our main Big Ten rivals Michigan and Michigan State consistently put together Final Four contenders and now the new coaches at Indiana and Ohio State (Miller and Holtmann) are beating us regularly for top recruits. It looks like Ohio State may have a top ten class in Holtmann's 2nd year.
I will continue to be a die hard Boilermaker fan, but I don't see a Final Four
in the future unless things change.
Right now it looks like we have a football coach that is winning some recruiting battles with the top programs and hopefully Brohm will be here a while and can continue his recruiting success and build a football program that can contend in the near future.