WEST LAFAYETTE — Purdue men’s basketball coach Matt Painter at first thought he’d fallen for another social media trap.
The longtime Boilermakers coach admitted to getting duped by parody Twitter accounts such as @TheNBACentel. Surely the concept of G League players returning to college rosters had to be a ruse.
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Nope, the NCAA recently changed its eligibility rules to allow players who left for the NBA’s feeder league to return to the college ranks. Louisville recently received a commitment from London Johnson, a former four-star prospect who spent the past three years in the G League. Another player from the league, Thierry Darlan, recently committed to Santa Clara.
“You’re just kind of at a loss for words,” Painter said. You don’t know what is next, right? Nothing surprises me anymore, I know that.”
Painter wasn’t actually at a loss for words, though. He joined Michigan State coach Tom Izzo, Houston coach Kelvin Sampson and Kanas coach Bill Self in speaking out against the development.
Painter’s decried the current college sports culture’s effect on high school recruiting. While Purdue has taken transfers, including Oscar Cluff and Liam Murphy this season, Painter is recognized for utilizing the portal far less than other coaches at top programs. The other four opening-night starters for his preseason No. 1 team will come from players recruited out of high school, including one who redshirted one year.
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He quoted former colleague Bob Huggins, who when taking note of all of the “best transfer squad” articles in the offseason, asked, “Where’s the best stayers?”
Yet he also did not blame those coaches who take the option of transfers or, potentially, G Leaguers. He knows the pressure to win at this level.
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“Everybody’s a high player at one time,” said Painter, an Indiana All-Star at Delta. “There has to be opportunity for high school players. Why are we taking away from high school players?
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“The portal, all that stuff, it takes away from the recruitment, especially low major, D-II, D-III recruitment. It just does. Because now these coaches, they want to win. They want to keep their job. They don’t want to have to move their kids from one school district to another school district. They want to grow it, but are you going to do it with 19- to 20-year olds or do it with 22- to 23-year olds?”
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This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Matt Painter on G League players recruited for college basketball
