Purdue's Matt Painter describes team closeness entering NCAA Tournament run

· Yahoo Sports

Purdue's Matt Painter describes team closeness entering NCAA Tournament run originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Visit sweetbonanza-app.com for more information.

The Purdue Boilermakers earned a trip to St. Louis this Friday in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, thanks to them winning four games in four days, as it was capped off by an 80-72 win in the Big Ten title game against the Michigan Wolverines from the United Center in Chicago this past Sunday.

Transitioning their focus to the opening game against Queens (7:35 p.m. ET, truTV), coach Matt Painter told reporters how excited he is for his team to keep marching toward bigger goals and ambitions as a collective.

"It's a great sign," Painter said of the team's chemistry. "There's a lot of teams -- and we've been one of those teams before that have just played great and then all of a sudden get into tourney time and not play as well. It's a little bit of a mix, like you've got to keep working towards getting better."

Painter said his team is so well-connected that he doesn't feel he has to coach them to an excessive level, but rather fine-tune fundamentals.

He also recognizes that there's a bigger picture than just basketball with the way the sport operates in today's climate.

MORE:March Madness predictions 2026

"I'm cool with it," Painter said of NIL and declaring early. "I'm cool with guys making money. I'm good. Make money, make good basketball decisions, and get your education. Do it all, man. Pimp the system. Get it all. Those guys are just chasing money and they're just doing that, they're going to have a couple all-conference plaques, they're not going to invest their money. They're not going to have a degree. That's our job, man. When you're a coach, that's your job."

Ultimately, though, the bonds and relationships are what matter most to Painter.

"It doesn't mean you're going to be successful too because we know a bunch of fools that have gotten college degrees, and I know people that have been brilliant in what they've done and didn't go to college," Painter said. "But if you play it by the numbers, man. You got a scholarship to play college basketball at a Big Ten university, you've got an advantage over a lot of people. It doesn't mean you're better than anybody, but you've got an advantage. Use that. Don't let basketball use you up. Have balance in your life and understand the big picture. Those are the things we really try to sell."

With all those factors in mind, sometimes, it's simply bigger than basketball.

MORE: March Madness First Four live scores 2026

And that's the reality Painter wants people to take away.

More college basketball news:

Read full story at source