Purdue men’s basketball coach Matt Painter has been named one of 15 coaches to the 2025 Werner Ladder Naismith mid-season college coach of the year watch list, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced Friday afternoon.
Painter is on the mid-season list for the third straight year and is joined by Bruce Pearl (Auburn), Ben McCollum (Drake), Jon Scheyer (Duke), Todd Golden (Florida), Kelvin Sampson (Houston), Pat Kelsey (Louisville), Penny Hardaway (Memphis), Dusty May (Michigan), Tom Izzo (Michigan State), Dennis Gates (Missouri), Richard Pitino (New Mexico), Rick Pitino (St. John’s), Grant McCasland (Texas Tech) and Greg Gard (Wisconsin).
Painter has led Purdue to a 19-8 overall record and in the hunt for the Boilermakers’ third straight Big Ten title, despite losing two-time National Player of the Year and four key players off last year’s team that reached the National Championship game. The Boilermakers have been ranked as high as No. 6 in the national polls this season and are currently ranked No. 13 in the latest AP poll – the 54th straight week that Purdue has been nationally ranked.
The Boilermakers’ offense is humming right along, fueled by two All-America candidates in Braden Smith and Trey Kaufman-Renn. Smith leads the Big Ten in both assists and steals, while Kaufman-Renn leads the Big Ten in scoring.
Painter owns a 466-211 in his 20th season at Purdue, and a 491-216 record in 21 seasons as a head coach.
The Boilermakers face Indiana on Sunday.
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