LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – When Tom Crean was introduced to
the Purdue-Indiana basketball rivalry in 2009, Crean had Daniel Moore, Kyle
Taber and Malik Story.
Matt Painter coaches Purdue. He had the swagger. Painter had
E'Twaun Moore, JaJuan Johnson and Robbie Hummel.
Purdue was the place to be for college basketball in
Indiana. Moore, Johnson and Hummel were only sophomores, part of the splendid
recruiting class that stirred talk of Big Ten titles and Final Fours in West
Lafayette.
With Kelvin Sampson in charge, Indiana had whiffed on
recruiting Moore and Johnson – and then peppered Hummel with phone calls, a
recruiting tale that he shared with NCAA investigators and led to Sampson's
firing and Crean's hiring.
That was the first of five consecutive losses that Indiana
and Crean took from the Boilermakers, four of them by 11 or more points.
Check the final season Pomeroy computer rankings in 2009 for
the eight Division I college programs in the state of Indiana. You'll find
Purdue on top, ranked 18th nationally, well ahead of Notre Dame (38)
and Butler (45).
Keep scanning. You'll find Indiana 212th, just ahead of IPFW
(222) and Ball State (244).
Purdue and Indiana will play for the ninth time during the
Tom Crean Era Saturday at 2 p.m. in Assembly Hall. Indiana is positioned to win
its fourth consecutive game against the Boilermakers.
If the Hoosiers win it will be only the third time since
1976 that they have won four straight against their in-state rivals.
Check the Pomeroy computer rankings for the eight Division I
college programs in the state this season. You'll find IU on top, ranked second
nationally, well ahead of Butler (48) and Notre Dame (54).
Keep scanning. You'll find Purdue 92nd, ahead of
Evansville (121), Ball State (261) and IPFW (276).
Pomeroy projects that Painter's team will finish the season
13-18, missing the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2006.
Quite a role reversal.
Even two seasons ago Purdue beat Indiana by 14 and 11. You
could find Crean's name popping up all over those Coaches on the Hot Seat
lists. If Indiana wins Saturday, Crean will bring his record at IU all the way
back from 28-66 to 78-78.
Not Painter. Painter
was a prime candidate in the Coach of the Year discussion in 2011. He was the
guy that Missouri wanted to replace Mike Anderson. He stayed at Purdue his alma
mater.
Now he's just trying to win some games. And not lose four
straight to Indiana.
Copyright 2013 WDRB News. All Rights Reserved.
Indiana basketball coach Tom Crean (right) has flipped the script on Matt Painter at Purdue.
