So question to those who are upset at the coach of the year award.
Should the award go to the coach of the team who overachieved or the team who had the most success?
It is very disingenuous to say that Painter doesn't deserve the award and also say that Brad Underwood should have won or won in the past.
Painter will more than likely coach his team to THIRTY wins before even the NCAA tournament begins.
Purdue NEVER fell below rank #4 THE ENTIRE SEASON.
Painter brought back the reigning player of the year, kept key pieces on the roster in Smith and Loyer, and added key trasnfers like Lance Jones to complement Edey.
Fred Hoiberg took a Nebraska team that finished 12th last year, was predicted to be about the same this year, all the way to 3rd.
The sad fact is that Brad does a great job of making this team competitive in the offseason. Most voters do not take into account the offseason moves. Keeping TSJ and Coleman, adding Domask, Guerrier, and Harmon, and developing an offense around them was absolutely genius. The expectations going into the season are usually positive and finishing 2nd is about where we were projected.
I would have assumed that Brad would get more buzz if we could have won or shared the B1G title, but the fact is, Purdue beat us twice.
If there was an award for coach of the last 5 years, Brad wins.
If there was a General Manager of the year award, Brad wins.
But there's not. Fred and Matt both deserve the title of coach of the year. (I wish they just picked one tho :/ )