 Coach, thank you so much for joining us. Thank you for having me. How does it feel to be back on your court in Mackie Arena? Well, I don't think about that much, but it's always a pleasure that somebody would think enough of me to name a court after me, so I really appreciate that. You're so iconic at Purdue. And Coach Painter, and you have this really special relationship over 42 years. It's just been the two of you as coaches at Purdue, and that's pretty unheard of in college basketball. Tell us about your relationship with Coach Painter and what makes him so special. Well, he listens, and he's coachable, and he was a good player, smart player. When he first got here, he told his dad that, I don't know if Coach Kitty knows what the heck he's doing, and his dad is a lawyer over at Muncie, and he said, hey, go back, do what he says, and be quiet. And he did, and now he's the head coach. So you had a role in kind of giving him this head coach position. Why did you choose Coach Painter? Because I thought he was a Purdue guy through and through, and had the right goals in life, and could teach properly. And coaches had to be teachers. Coach Wooden taught us that. So it's one of those things where he's a good teacher. And he told us before that you are obviously a mentor of his. Did you have any mentors that you learned from? Oh, yeah. Yeah, I worked for Eddie Sutton at Arkansas, and my high school coach, Merwin Wilson, even when I was in high school, was a great leader for me and taught me how to treat people right and how to be cultural myself. Because if I didn't listen, why would I expect my players to? Right. And when you look back at your time at Purdue, is there a favorite story or memory that really came in? Well, there's so many. I could write a book, probably, if somebody wanted to listen to it. But mainly, I was very into Purdue because they were academic oriented. My players get a degree from Purdue. You could probably get a really good job. And that's what I always insisted on. My players go to class, be on time, and try your best. That was my three rules. And yeah, when you talk about the balance between athletics and education, how did you instill that in your players? Well, I insisted they go to class. And that's what my mom and dad did to me. And my coaches did to me when I was in college. So it was something that seemed to pay out for me. I got my masters and lacked about 20 hours so it was one of those things where your education is always first. So when we think about this season with Coach Panner, it's a historic season, right? What have you thought, you know, as we're leading up to March Madness? Well, I really liked the way he has the big guys get the ball. We always did that when I coached. And the center was kind of the focus of our offense. And he does that. And they play really good defense. And they do things, he sets plays for them. And I always did that. So I was a quarterback at football and I always wanted to run the plays myself. So you played football as well? Oh yeah, I played for the Steelers a cup of coffee. How did you choose between kind of going that basketball role? Well, basketball is inside and it's warm. And in Kansas it's cold in the winter so I wanted to coach basketball. So that's how you led to that decision? Well, that's one of those things. I kept getting better jobs. How do you think coaching is different from when you were at Purdue to now? Probably the parents are more involved than I coached and they made their children behave and listen to the coach and have discipline and go to class and that sort of thing. I think the parents are really part of my success. Do you think social media, you know, obviously that's a lot different than it was back in the day? Well, I'm not involved in that. So I don't know, but I would have to take your word for it. I have heard from players and coaches. I mean, it's just tough because everything's happening in an instant. Everybody knows about everything you're doing, yeah. Exactly. There's no secrets. Yeah, so, you know, looking back again, is there a certain game that you wish out of any game that you could change the outcome? Yeah, we played Duke and we didn't go to Final Four, they did. So that was a heartbreaker because I felt bad for the fans of Purdue because I know how bad they wanted to go too. Yeah, what do you think, you know, do you have any advice for this team leading up to the Final Four? We really have a chance to hear. Well, I got a lot of advice, but I don't think they'd listen. I think anything, listen to Coach Painter. He knows what he's doing. Be appreciative of the fact we've got the best fans in the country and academically it's the best college in the world. So those things are very valuable. Absolutely. What do you think this Macchi Arena has this atmosphere, like you said, the best fans, the paint crew? Why do you think that's so special here? Well, they enjoy basketball and they know good basketball and they make it very loud in here for the opponent. So it's a great home court advantage. Do you have any other stories, you know, with coaches or Coach Painter, maybe in particular that you want to share with the audience? I just have a lot of good stories that are all positive and it's a pleasure to be able to work for Purdue and had a lot of good bosses. George King was a great boss. Presidents here are always very good to me and I always appreciate the fact they hired me. And we just had the IU Purdue game, Purdue won Saturday. Yeah, that was fun, but you know, we've had a lot of games like that where we didn't win. So it's always been a great rivalry and it's always been something that we always look forward to, all of us. Yeah, why do you think that rivalry is so special? Because we're both very competitive at both schools and we all love all sports, not just basketball. And I think it's a sporting state where if you play any sort of team sport, women's and men's both, people are for you. Yeah, absolutely. When you talk about recruiting, I'm sure it's a lot different than it was when you were coaching. What advice would you give a student who wants to come to Purdue and is being recruited to play basketball here? Well, take advantage of all the situations here that's available to you. I always had my sales pitch when I recruited was about academics mostly because that's what's important. I'm very proud of the fact that I have my masters in a few hours towards my doctor. So the academic part is invaluable. And that's the part you need to pinpoint on. Yeah, and also, you know, there's only a certain percentage who go pro, right? Some day you're gonna have to kind of hang that up. Yeah, 1% to be exact. So you need to have your degree. Okay. NBA is great, but you need to have your degree in case you don't make it. Sure. What advice, you know, would you leave with our listeners if you had to tell them one thing to all the fans? Well, every team is different. I think be patient, stay enthusiastic like they are now because we have the best crowd in the nation. And it's just don't change anything. People that start changing things mess it up. So just be happy with what you have now because Coach Panter is a great coach. Any other last thoughts of, you know, heading into March Madness, the Big Ten tournament? Just looking forward to it. Can't wait to get to the tournament. I hope they do well and win it. And of course, I always want all the Purdue teams to go to Final Four, that's our goal as a coach. So it's a situation that's hard to do, but it's, you're capable and it's available if you can get the right matchups and the right time for the players to play at their best. And are you and your wife always watching every game at home? Every game, if we can get it every game, yeah. If we can't get it, we're kind of frustrated. Do you have any like rituals around the games that you have to do a certain thing? Oh yeah, I had a lot of them. Wear the same shirt, same shoes, same, except the same way, you know, I had a lot of superstitions. Okay. What, can you share one of them with us? Gosh, I have so many, I can't remember them all. What's your favorite shirt to wear? Button down collar. Okay, okay. Keep it classy. Yes. Or whatever my wife told me to do. Yeah. And your wife's a big, pretty fan too. Did she go here? No. No, okay. She loves it because of you. Yes. Okay. Anything else? She couldn't believe that my name was on the court. Oh. She said, why? Well, you're you, I mean. I said, I don't know, I would just happy they did it. It looks great. I mean, like, how does it feel to you to be back here though? Well, it feels very rewarding and I'm happy to be here. I always enjoy the way coach painter coaches. So it's just fun to be here. And I enjoy the fans enthusiasm. Yeah, absolutely. Well, I think that covers it all. Okay. Well, thank you for having me. It's my pleasure to be with you. And good luck to you. I hope you have a tremendous job. Are you, are you a graduate? I am. I graduated in 2012. Good, good, good. You get paid for this job? I get paid to do this. How cool is it? Wow. That's like me getting paid to be a coach. Exactly. Dream job. You had what you're like to do and love to do. Exactly, exactly. Well, thank you. We appreciate your time. Thank you.