I believe when it comes to recruiting elite athletes, an elite athlete said it best when he was talking about his final 4 choices. he basically said Purdue is a great program and you know what you're getting.
You could take that for good and bad. recruits already know about Painter and Purdue before they ever visit. you could say their minds are already made up. for better and worse, Purdue and Painter are the benchmark a recruit compares other schools against. I've seen Painter identify and offer some of the best talent in the nation. However, I've also seen those same players drop Purdue very early in their recruiting process. for many of them, Purdue is the bird in the hand. if they find something they like better, they go for it.
Another part of the problem is if elite players know what Painter and Purdue offer, you can bet other coaches do as well. they can ask what do you like about Purdue, and then state we also can offer that and we can throw in a couple extra things as well. I have the utmost respect for Alford and UCLA as running a clean program. And I have to believe he runs a similar program on the same level as Painter. I also have to believe UCLA offers a few things off the court that Purdue could never offer - like visiting Disney World, or taking in a Dodgers game. And UCLA doesn't even have to give those things under the table or cheat. The fact a player could go to Disneyland any day they want has to be considered a factor.
As for Trayce, what does IU offer that Purdue doesn't? A music school with actual concerts and recitals? better pizza? Brown County Park? newer dorms/apartments? a nearby lake?
My wife grew up in West Lafayette and owns degrees from both Purdue and IU. Bloomington isn't a dump or bad place. Not all of the houses are single wides. It does have some redeeming qualities. As for which coach a player would want to play for, see my previous paragraphs.
For better and worse, Painter and Purdue are a constant benchmark that don't change very much. Painter is going to have almost an entirely new starting line-up. my bet is he'll continue playing man to man defense and his motion offense with 3 guards. because he's Painter, and that's what he does.
Just to try to hijack this thread back to the original hijack'ed thread topic:
I believe that there is another factor involved, that helps Indiana silently recruit/expand their fan base, that Purdue fails miserably at: Overall school marketing.
I live in a town that is 20 miles from Purdue. When I was attending Purdue, I was considered a townie, because I lived, worked, and socialized at home, and didn't stay on campus 24/7.
Now, even in this small town (still considered within "the Greater Lafayette Area"), we get flooded with the IU brand all the time.
First, we've got the Logo everywhere: IU Health is a big one. A lot of you will say it doesn't make a difference, but I disagree. Not having actual figures, I'd say between 50-60 of all doctors offices locally have that huge IU badge out there on the front of their buildings touting IU. Can't do much to fight it, but it is what it is.
Secondly, even in this little burg that I live, the local and national stores all carry IU merchandise. The local grocery store has specially labeled IU candy bars, the local Dollar General has a whole section of IU gear in their clothing section.
I used to manage the CVS Pharmacy in that same small town, and every year, in the "back to school" sets, we'd have at least one display of college merchandise, with everything from hats, scarves, pens & pencils, pennants, stickers, post-it notes etc., and ever year the same crap: 80% IU; 19% Notre Dame, and like maybe one item that had a motion P on it.
The "Big R" farm store even sold IU branded toy tractors every now and then.
We NEVER see Purdue gear for sale locally, and we're 25 minutes from the Student Union door.
Once, while working at that same CVS, I inquired about it, and my D.M. put me in contact with a low level Product Marketing Manager at the corporate headquarters. I explained the situation, and told him I'd like to adjust my mix to include a better representation of the local schools in the area, which my store was located in. He told me that I could get a little more N.D. stuff, but that Purdue just didn't license merchandise like the other schools did, and that they never got Purdue gear because they were so tight with the licensing of merchandise.
It's better now, but it used to be hard to find Purdue Items in the local big box stores (Target, K-Mart, Wally, Meijer etc). The Tippy Mall usually had some sort of Purdue kiosk there, but you were hard pressed to find Purdue gear at JC Penny, or Kohls.
They have done better with that lately, because even Wal-Mart has a small section of "Officially Licensed" Purdue merchandise these days (I think Meijer has the best local representation actually). But the standard is still the same: everywhere you go, the branding at IU has always greatly outdone what they would let go of in W. Lafayette. What little licensing they would do, retailers didn't want any part of, because the licensing was so expensive, they priced themselves out of the market (common non-grads wouldn't want to pay twice as much, just for a Purdue hat or T-shirt).
Personally, I think this might also be a minor contributor to that "Ivy league" perception that is so prevalent with Purdue, outside of the Midwest. If they are so concerned with what merchandise they will license, it kinda gives a bit of an air of superiority feel to it (again IMHO).
Maybe if it didn't feel like the university was snubbing it's nose at the local/non-student population, they'd maybe have more people "buying in", and supporting the institution/programs.
