‘It adds a sense of pride:’ Purdue basketball’s run to title game has foundation in Indiana

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Bailey Good is leaning back against a Final Four backdrop in the last locker before exiting Purdue's locker room, staring down at a laptop with headphones in his ears.

Who is Bailey Good?

He's a senior manager for the Purdue basketball team.

To many, he's anonymous on this NCAA Tournament run to the national title game, but he was once a star point guard at Clinton Prairie High School, a rural Indiana school about 25 miles from Purdue's campus and inside the walls of Mackey Arena, his game is well respected.

"That’s the great part about Indiana basketball. It is kind of a brotherhood in a sense," Good said Sunday afternoon. "Even though you may not play against guys, you still see some of the headlines. You check in on how they’re doing."

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And therein lies the blueprint of Purdue's success.

Do you need some top level national recruits? Of course.

But if you're in basketball crazy Indiana, you better win the recruiting wars in your own state.

Baby Boilers changed it all

When Matt Painter was hired by Purdue, Indiana had two of the top high school basketball players in the country.

And Painter didn't even chase Greg Oden or Mike Conley.

Wisely, Purdue targeted the crop a year behind that group, knowing full well where Purdue's program was at the time and what it would take to shock the Boilermakers back to life in the post David Teague and Carl Landy era.

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Painter hit the Region, an area in northern Indiana that borders Illinois just outside of Chicago. Purdue landed E'Twaun Moore, Robbie Hummel and Scott Martin, plus JaJuan Johnson out of Indianapolis. They'd become dubbed the "Baby Boilers."

Martin transferred after one season, but Moore, Hummel and Johnson became household names in college basketball and all three played in the NBA.

The footprint

When Bob Knight used to walk into a gym in Indiana, he at the very least could get a conversation with any player he wanted.

That's where Painter is.

And his staff hits the state hard.

Purdue's current roster has 17 players. Eleven of them are from Indiana, including starters Trey Kaufman-Renn, Fletcher Loyer and Braden Smith, as well as sixth man Mason Gillis. Factor in freshman Myles Colvin and five of Purdue's top eight are from its home state.

"Just playing against some of these dudes in high school and seeing them on the court and respecting them as players, then you come and get to play with them, it’s a cool experience," said freshman walk-on Jace Rayl, from Kokomo.

Friends and foes

Loyer's final loss as a high school player still stings. And to top if off, he was runner-up for IndyStar Mr. Basketball. Smith was both the winner in that regional semifinal matchup in 2022 and for the state's top individual accolade.

Water under the bridge.

Those two, who on Monday night will start their 74th straight game, will be forever linked.

But it's that way with a lot of people within a locker room loaded with former Indiana high school standouts.

"They’ve faced each other a lot. Especially with the AAU," said assistant coach Terry Johnson, himself from Anderson. "They see each other every summer and know of each other before they ever become teammates."

Success leads to success

Of Purdue's 11 players from Indiana, four won state championships in high school. Two others played for state runner-up teams.

"I expect to win every game that I play in with every team I am a part of," said forward Trey Kaufman-Renn, whose Silver Creek Dragons won 16 straight postseason games between his sophomore to senior seasons. "Last year it was such a surprise. Not because we lost to a 16 seed or whatever, but because the season ended without a win. I am so used to each team I am on being successful."

Same with Purdue reserve center Caleb Furst.

His Fort Wayne Blackhawk teams won 17 straight postseason games from 2019-21. During that stretch, Furst's team knocked out current Purdue senior Carson Barrett's Lafayette Central Catholic team in a semistate.

"When you see people in high school or whatever, you make that connection there," Smith said. "Then you go play in college together, so it definitely gives you a little bit of an advantage."

State pride

The 1987 Indiana Hoosiers are the last school from the state to win a men's basketball championship.

Purdue will become the state's first Division I program playing in the title game since Butler in 2011.

Indiana was once the basketball capital of the world. In some ways, it still is, but some of the state's top talent keeps escaping to colleges outside the Indiana border.

Purdue, though, has managed to keep its fair share close to home.

For many on the Purdue roster, a national championship wouldn't just be a win for the Boilermakers, it would be a win for Indiana high school basketball.

"It adds a sense of pride for many of us," Furst said.

Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at sking@jconline.com and follow him on Twitter and Instagram @samueltking.

For complete coverage and analysis of Monday's NCAA men's basketball championship game, visit https://www.jconline.com/sports/