GLENDALE, Ariz. โ Gene Keady walked down one of the long hallways beneath State Farm Stadium on Monday night on his way to his seat for the national championship game. One of the guards smiled and nodded, and the 87-year-old former Purdue coach nodded back and said, “Thank you for coming.”
Seven months from now, Purdue will begin a new journey to try to get back to this point (in case you're wondering, next year's Final Four will be in San Antonio, and two years later in Indianapolis). ). Hundreds of articles have been written and videos have been written about how next year's team will be built without Zach Eady and what momentum Purdue can gain from reaching the Final Four for the first time in 44 years. will be recorded and columns will be written.
Doyle:On the biggest stage, Purdue showed the nation what Indiana already knows: The Boilers are all class.
insider:Purdue set an incredibly high bar this season and almost reached it.
Matt Painter wasn't thinking about any of that late Monday night after his Purdue team clashed with a powerhouse UW team in the national championship game, losing 75-60. Painter, like Keady before him, knows how difficult it is to get here. Purdue fans filled his stadium at State and dwarfed the crowds at UW and his other four Finals teams, Alabama and North Carolina State. By Saturday, Purdue gear in merchandise tents and stores around State Farm Stadium was sold out.
As the years go by, no matter what happens next, this team will always remain the team that broke through and made history. They continued to ask questions all season about Fairleigh Dickinson's loss in the first round of last year's NCAA Tournament.
In the hallway Monday night, Painter cited players like Rick Mount and Joe Barry Carroll, as well as Purdue's basketball family, and said Keady and Painter are the only ones who have led the program for 44 years. That's why, he said. period. “But the other thing is you always want to keep the bar moving. Some of the things we had to sit through were true. But it always raises expectations for your program. You win a Big Ten Championship, you graduate, you win and you make it to the final game. You look back on all of that and you reflect and you feel good. But it's relationships. It's everyone. We have great players, great staff. It's fun to be around them.”
Every player in Purdue's locker room talked about the maturity up and down the roster after the game and every day since arriving in Glendale for the Final Four. The Boilermakers may have been built around his Edy, but they found a fit. The player is willing to take his turn and fit into his role. Adding to the burden of the loss of Fairleigh Dickinson was that, as Painter said, he was “carrying a piano on his back” all season.
Asked Monday night what he would take away from this season, a disappointed Fletcher Royer said, “How much respect do I have for the players in this room?” โIf the people here went through what we went through, put a lot of effort into something, failed, and then came back and tried again and made it all the way to a national championship… that would be very emotional. Jobs where people will fail. Perhaps the people who say our names and drag us down are the ones who say we can't do what we do.”
Royer said the reward is in the journey. Watching it before Monday night's game at State Farm Stadium, it was easy to understand what it means for Purdue to reach this stage.
“What we accomplished is often overlooked because now we just lost,” Royer said. “But we changed a lot of lives, built a community around us, and made people happy. We were happy.”
Royer cited Eadie's unselfish attitude, a two-time National Player of the Year, as a key to Purdue's fit and success. That became clear in the final moments of Monday's game when Eadie was ejected from the game. Eadie was the last to leave the court in a Purdue uniform, but he was talking about next season.
“He just said we were going to be special,” Royer said of Eadie's message. “I don't understand why he's talking about next year when what we've accomplished in the last two years is so impressive. And I'll never forget it.”
Neither do the Purdue faithful who have filled Mackey Arena over the years and supported one of the most consistent programs in the country that never quite got over the bumps in the NCAA Tournament. While we may not have won a national championship at this tournament, our first trip to the Final Four since 1980 and our first appearance in the national championship game since 1969 will never be forgotten or deserved. I don't think it will be considered that way.
“I appreciate everything they've done for me,” Painter said of Purdue fans. “I've always had the belief, 'You've got to give them something to fuel them,' and we have some of that. We've got to get the team ready. Our players. The guys have to go out and compete and play, and they'll show up. They've proven it. Exhibition games will be sold out.”
Will it raise standards? What are your expectations? of course. But Purdue built this model of consistency by developing high school players and sprinkling in a transfer or two (Lance Jones) as a way to operate going forward.
“The landscape is changing,” Painter said. “Where does it go? Where are the guardrails in that world? We were able to keep doing it the same way. It would be interesting if we could continue to do it the same way. I think we can. We have a lot of support so we don't have any problems. But we don't want to run away from education and people and people growing and developing. We hope we don't have to. Masu.”
What will it be like in six months? Painter said he wants to see who does his job and improves to determine what next season will look like. We have a group of players in the locker room who know how difficult it is to get there.
Coach Royer said of his message to the new players: “This is going to be the most difficult thing you'll ever do in your life.'' โIt will also be the most rewarding.โ
Colestar reporter Kyle Neddenlieb (317) 444-6649.