Matt Painter
![Matt Painter photo](../../images/painter-matt-da.jpg)
2021 DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI AWARD RECIPIENT
BA 1994, Sociology
Men's Basketball Head Coach, Purdue University
One of America's top basketball coaches, Matt Painter enters his 17th year at Purdue. He owns a 355-164 record at Purdue and has led the Boilermakers to 12 NCAA Tournaments, five Sweet 16s, three Big Ten regular-season championships, a Big Ten Tournament title, an Elite Eight, and an international gold medal. He was voted by his peers as the NABC National Coach of the Year after leading a team that started with a 6-5 record to the 2019 Elite Eight. Purdue's six straight NCAA Tournament appearances are the seventh-longest active streak in America and Purdue is one of just three teams to have a top-five seed in each of the last five NCAA Tournaments. Off the court, his program has had 68 Academic All-Big Ten honorees in his 16 previous years at Purdue, and every player but one that has exhausted their eligibility at Purdue has graduated.