Matt Painter Talks College Basketball Transfer Portal, Hints at Offseason Situation

INDIANAPOLIS — Before the start of the season, Matt Painter was commended and applauded for his ability to do things "the old-fashioned way." Purdue brought in a five-man recruiting class, didn't have any underclassmen transfer out of the program and didn't jump into the transfer portal to bring in any new players.

Essentially, Purdue was a unicorn this past offseason. And though Painter may not rely heavily on the transfer portal this offseason, he did hint at some changes when the 2024-25 campaign comes to an end.

In an interview with 107.5 The Fan's JMV, Painter was asked about how he approaches the transfer portal situation during the offseason. He has already acknowledged that at least one player is leaving the program — though he didn't specify whether that was graduating senior Caleb Furst or someone else via transfer. It sounds like Purdue may also be looking to add someone via the portal if the fit is right.

"The one thing we want to be top-shelf about is being honest and trying to help them. But you're not going to appease everybody. Like, right now, we have one guy leaving," Painter said. "So, if they want to improve and they want to improve their situation, they're going to have to battle and beat the people that they've been competing against this year probably. We're going to get some guys here, we're going to get some guys here in the spring, because you have to — you have to be aggressive."

Honesty from the Purdue staff has been a priority for Painter, but so too has been setting players up for success. And he believes that his program, his school and his home arena offer guys some of the best experiences they'll encounter in college basketball.

"The thing I try to do here, the thing we try to do here, is just circle our guys with the best support staff and the best people and just be truth tellers. Coach them, help them, from an education standpoint, from a development standpoint," Painter said.

"If you think you can walk somewhere and get a better education than Purdue and get a better experience than Mackey Arena 20 times per year, and go to the tournament nine straight years and win the Big Ten four times in the last nine years and go to a Final Four, God bless you, man. Then leave. Leave, get more money, get a better education, get a better experience, but I doubt you're going to check those boxes."

Regardless of whether Purdue wants to jump into the transfer portal game or not, it's imperative that the coaching staff understands the situation moving forward. So, when the season ends, meetings with individual players begins pretty quick.

In some cases, it sounds like some of those conversations have already happened.

"You've got to embrace where you're at, you've got to embrace this week. Try to win the Big Ten Tournament, try to win the NCAA Tournament," Painter said. "But once it's over — you used to say, 'Hey, take some time off, get away' — you've got to have meetings. You've got to have meetings right away, you've got to say, 'Where are you at? What do you want to do?' ... So, you've got to be ready. We're ready right now, but you don't know the direction of some people."

Purdue still has at a least a few weeks left on its schedule, playing in the Big Ten Tournament before another trip to the NCAA Tournament. But once the season ends, nobody will be taking a two-week vacation.

That's when roster management for the 2025-26 season begins.

Related stories on Purdue basketball