View not from you

Note:My internship is over and I’m back, so I’ve re-titled the column appropriately.

Gene Keady and Purdue Athletic Director Morgan Burke are having marital difficulties at the time, and any hint of Keady being slightly dissatisfied with Purdue or basketball in general always seems to lead back to his descendants at SIU.

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Last year it was Bruce Weber, but since he is more than happy at Illinois, the bloodhounds now howl at Matt Painter. But like the Kentucky fans still stewing in a Columbus bar wondering how a team with a dragon logo could ever get the best of them, Painter is not going anywhere soon.

For as good as Painter is and as much as we know he can do for a collegiate basketball program, the fact still remains that he has only one year of head coaching experience. Purdue is not likely to take that kind of a chance.

A head coach’s responsibility goes way beyond basketball, and Painter has only been at it for a year. His basketball credentials are perfect, but will he be able to handle a Luther Head should he need to? Big programs are usually corrupt in some way and do not recruit Boy Scouts, adding many non-basketball difficulties.

He also looked worn out after his hours of interviews following the NCAA tournament selection show, and it would only get worse at Purdue. He needs a few more years to develop a few media calluses before he is thrown to the dogs in Chicago. Even Weber, who was as media-friendly as they come, blew up when times were tough despite five years of head coaching experience.

And remember what it took for Weber to get to Illinois? He was an assistant at Purdue for 18 years and a head coach for five, and he only got hired after a few people, one of whom was rumored to be Creighton head coach Dana Altman, withdrew from the running.

Purdue has more history and basketball prestige than Illinois – Purdue has won more Big Ten titles than any team in the conference and is not likely to lower its standards below that of the Illini – especially when names such as Xavier’s Thad Motta are being mentioned. He is arguably the hottest coach in college basketball after leading the Musketeers to the Elite Eight and has a better resume than Painter.

Besides, there’s no guarantee Painter will leave even if he is offered the job. There’s no doubt he wants to return to his alma mater, but he has a great job here and has said so many times.

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Unless he has lied to me and several other members of the media, he’ll be back. He talked on several occasions about how lucky he is to even have a job as a head coach and to be making the money he’s making in the game he loves. Painter knows how lucky he is to be doing nothing but coaching basketball and also on pace to be a millionaire within the decade.

He also likely realizes what a betrayal it would be to his players to leave them after one season. It was a tough sell to keep prized recruit Jamaal Tatum here, and Painter was the one who sold him on coming. Tatum wanted to play for both Weber and departed assistant Chris Lowery and was crushed when Weber left.

If Painter leaves this season, who knows what Tatum will do, not to mention Painter would endanger what is likely to be the best basketball season in school history next year. Darren Brooks’ senior season would be half what it could be with the interruption of a new coach and could cost him a shot at the NBA. The final campaigns of Stetson Hairston and LaMar Owen could be disastrous under a new coach as well.

He is not saying much now, but before he has said in plain language he is staying at SIU.

His words have been very different from Weber’s last year, probably the strongest indication he wants to finish what he started. Painter is talking plainly and, we hope, straight forward, whereas Weber would not commit either way.

“I’m not going to say anything,” Weber told me last Easter, about a week and a half before he took the job. “I haven’t been contacted, and I’m not going to get into it. To be honest, I don’t see it happening. But we’ll see what happens.”

You could tell Weber wanted the job if he could get it, and it’s a lot different than “I will be back next season,” which Painter said after the Alabama loss.

Unless there is a dramatic change, we have Painter for at least one more year and likely the four years he is signed for. It may require a raise like Weber received, which would be worth it because if Painter leaves now, the program could be at the top of a long, downward spiral.

It would also make a liar out of Painter and a gambler out of Purdue, so it’s a very good thing it will not be happening.