earn influence.
Painter is not perfect — no coach is — but perhaps a glaring flaw of his is an inability to properly placate the hangers-on and puppet-masters, who
have cost him recruits on the front end, one way or
another, or taken players from him, like Sandi Marcius, on the back end.
Look out, football. You're next.
Third parties — trainers, 7-on-7 coaches, "uncles"
and mentors — are becoming more prevalent and
the recruiting calendar is moving up, just like it did
in basketball. The Internet and summertime competition have made it almost as easy to find 15-year-old
running backs as it is 15-year-old point guards.
In Hazell and Painter, Purdue has coaches who at
their very cores aren't all that unlike. They're honest, in Painter's case maybe to a fault.
And neither will be getting any blood on their
hands any time soon in recruiting, nor will they be
quick to surrender any control over their programs to
people who don't matter all that much.
That's just the way it is and the way it should be
at Purdue. Whether it's the way to win in recruiting
nowadays, that may be another matter. j
Neubert can be contacted
at BNeubert@GoldandBlack.com
Watch archived shows from 2012-13
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Fridays this fall
at a computer
near you
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featuring the staff of GoldandBlack.com
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For complete schedule, visit the college page on WLFI.com.
Trent Johnson, Agent
GBIprint.com GoldandBlack.com
Gold & Black IllustrateD • volume 23, issue Gold & Black IllustrateD • volume 23, issue 5 • 19
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