'Just be a truth teller.' How Matt Painter's honesty in recruiting has Purdue winning big.

GLENDALE, Ariz. – The truth in recruiting is often a moving target.

“Nobody says, ‘Hey man, I hope I can come to your place and play 10 minutes and set screens and rebound, that would be cool,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said ahead of Monday’s national championship game against top-ranked UConn.

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That is not the role often (ever?) pitched in recruiting from college coaches, either. And to be fair, coaches might not necessarily be lying when they talk to prospects and their parents about their future role in college — it is the player’s upside that is projected. On that point, Painter and his staff might not be much different from any other coaching staff. It would be difficult to win any recruiting battle without looking for the upside. Why else would you recruit that player?

But one of the Painter’s biggest strengths in recruiting — and which saves him headaches down the road (just ask around the Purdue locker room for confirmation) — is honesty. It is also a trait that his assistants 10 or 12 years ago said he might need to dial back a bit if he wanted to get any players.

“I would break down things (to recruits) and my assistants would be like, ‘If you keep going this route, we’ll have nobody on our team,’” Painter said Sunday. “'Your honesty is, like, killing us.' … I just said, ‘Yeah but when we get ’em, it’s easier to coach ’em. Just be a truth teller.”

If there is a secret sauce to Purdue’s ability to retain players in the transfer portal era, it might be as simple as that. Our columnist Gregg Doyel did an excellent job of laying all of that out in a column prior to Purdue’s Sweet 16 game in Detroit against Gonzaga. The year-in, year-out reinvention of teams is happing all over the country due to NIL and the transfer portal. Everywhere, it seems, except here.

“Going to Purdue, I knew what I was getting into,” said Fletcher Loyer, who committed to Purdue in November of 2020, not long after starting his junior season at Homestead. Loyer was a three-star recruit at the time, picking the Boilermakers over Notre Dame, Michigan, Utah, Missouri and Nebraska (only Purdue and Nebraska have the same coach since Loyer committed).

“He did a great job of showing me film and kind of how I’d fit in,” Loyer said. “ … I started to see how he sees the game. Being around basketball, I’ve gotten to learn how people act and I saw a guy that leads in a respectful way. I saw how he does things the right way, see how he trusts people. That’s what I like.”

Myles Colvin was a legacy recruit to Purdue, where his father Rosevelt was a star football player and his sister Raven plays on the Boilermakers’ volleyball team. The 6-5 Colvin, still just 18 years old, is one of the most talented players on the roster. He has carved out a role, averaging 8 ½ minutes and 3.4 points per game.

It is not a starring role. But he was not promised anything, either.

“I think coach Painter is one of the most honest coaches when it comes to recruiting,” Colvin said. “Not to say everybody else lies, but he’s going to tell you what he wants from you and how he wants to use you. He’s truthful and down-to-earth. When he offered me, he told me I was going to have to work for everything. You definitely know what you are getting into, so it’s easier to prepare yourself.”

Painter took just one transfer going into this season in Lance Jones, who came from Southern Illinois to add shooting, athleticism and ballhandling to the backcourt. That figures to be the way it looks moving forward for Painter, who prefers to sign his players in the fall rather than the spring. He pointed out how tough it is to see former starters like Caleb Furst and Ethan Morton not play.

“I’m appreciative of those guys, appreciative of guys on the scout team,” Painter said. “People that come to Purdue, they don’t come to be on the scout team. They come to play. When you don’t, you have to be on the scout team, do those things, man, to be able to swallow your pride and do it, try to help us, I have a lot of respect for that. I appreciate those guys.”

Sasha Stefanovic, in his first year on the Purdue coaching staff, wanted to play for Purdue growing up and as a high school player at Crown Point. Painter recruited him and really liked his game. It was unclear late in Stefanovic’s senior season if there would be a spot for him.

But Painter laid all of that out to Stefanovic. His spot hinged on whether or not Caleb Swanigan decided to declare for the NBA draft. When another spot opened in up in February of 2017, Painter offered. Stefanovic quickly accepted.

“My story is exactly what he explains in being truthful in his recruiting process,” Stefanovic said Sunday. “I was willing to wait and take a chance. If not, I was willing to go to prep school or whatever it took to get to this point to play for Purdue. For him to be willing to explain, ‘I want you on my team but I don’t have a spot,’ was cool to see as a young athlete about him being so truthful about the process.”

The truth plays well in recruiting. Purdue is proof.

Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649.