Purdue’s Painter named national basketball coach of the year

After winning the Big Ten Conference regular-season championship for the second time in three years and leading Purdue University to its first Elite Eight appearance in the NCAA men's basketball tournament 19 years, Matt Painter was named the National Association of Basketball Coaches National Coach of the Year, the organization announced Wednesday.

Purdue finished the season with a 26-10 overall record and a 16-4 mark in the Big Ten. The team won 20 of its last 25 games with losses coming to two Final Four teams, Michigan State and Virginia.

The award will add another incentive payout to Painter's haul this year. The coach's contract calls for him to receive a bonus of 10 percent of his salary, or nearly $95,000, if he wins a national coach of the year award.

Altogether, Painter has qualified for nearly $356,000 in bonus money this season thanks to the coach-of-the-year bonus plus incentives for earning an NCAA tourney berth, winning three games in the tournament and finishing first in the conference.

Painter becomes the second Purdue coach to win NABC National Coach of the Year accolades, joining Gene Keady on the list (1994, 2000). The award has been given out since 1959.