Gold and Black @ 30: Year 14--2003-04

Related links: Year 1: 1990-91 | Year 2: 1991-92 | Year 3: 1992-93 | Year 4: 1993-94 | Year 5: 1994-95 | Year 6: 1995-96 | Year 7: 1996-97 | Year 8: 1997-98 | Year 9: 1998-99 | Year 10: 1999-00 | Year 11: 2000-01 | Year 12: 2001-02 | Year 13: 2002-03

Gold and Black Illustrated is celebrating 30 years of publishing. Over the next few weeks, we will look at each publishing year, recalling the moments that took place in that particular year.

Note: Captions describing each cover are not available on mobile platforms.

I remember talking to coach Joe Tiller in 2015, a couple of years before his much-too-early passing.

Tiller was not one to live in the past too much. When you talked with Joe, you always had the sense that he lived by the mantra "what's done is done."

But there is one game that I don't think he ever quite got over.

And that game was the overtime loss at Ohio State in the second-to-last regular-season game of the 2003 season. Purdue took the Buckeyes to an extra period, fighting tooth and nail with the No. 4 team in the country on its turf. All that Tiller and his staff had built in the six seasons seemed to be poised for that moment, that opportunity for a level of validation.

Yes, Purdue had been to the Rose Bowl three years earlier, but Tiller went to his grave thinking the 2003 team might have been his best at Purdue

After all, it had a defense that had more than a handful of NFL players on it. It had an offensive line that was high-end Big Ten quality and quarterback in Kyle Orton who was good enough to win at any level.

So, when kicker Ben Jones' 37-yard field goal sailed left in overtime to give the win to Ohio State, a part of Tiller's football life died. Even though the 2004 season began with a 5-0 start and No. 5 ranking, Tiller told me that 2003 was his best chance to prove that the Big Ten title in 2000 was no fluke. His coaching acumen was sufficient enough to construct a program capable of a league title without Drew Brees, it just didn't quite happen on that dark, late fall day in Columbus.

The entire athletic season was far from a downer. Tiller and the Boilermakers earned a New Year's Day Bowl trip to Orlando and won nine games. Coach Gene Keady's team spanked No. 2 Duke in November. The women's basketball squad was in the midst of winning a Big Ten title (regular season or tournament) every year. And it kept the streak alive by beating Penn State in Indy for the tourney crown in one of the best basketball games I have ever witnessed. Purdue was ranked in the top-5 heading into the NCAA Tournament and had one of its best players ever--All-American Shereka Wright.

But in sports, sometimes it is the losses that have unfair longevity. Consider Erika Valek, a standout guard for Kristy Curry who had battled injuries to have an excellent career at Purdue. She saw her time at Purdue come to an end when she failed to convert a lay-up she would hit 99 times out of 100. It shouldn't (and doesn't) diminish Valek's accomplishments at Purdue any more than losing an overtime heartbreaker at the 'Shoe defines Tiller's tenure.

It guess it can be summed up with the following: It was the way the ball bounced for Purdue in 2003-04.

Sometimes things line up just right.

The cover caption couldn't have fit the photo any better. And the fact that a very youthful looking Matt Painter (just age 33) is in the foreground with Gene Keady in the background is the definition of a picture telling a story.

I am not sure how much time photographer Tom Campbell had to get the picture taken, as it was snapped right before the Easter weekend press conference to announce Painter to the basketball world. But it all came together. I wasn't there when it was taken, but I remember waiting in Mackey for the press conference.

Yes, the deal was done for Purdue hoops.

Athletics director Morgan Burke had devised a plan to give Keady the respect he felt Keady deserved with a 25th year, but also to bring in Painter as a one-year understudy. It was a transition plan that Burke was among the first in college athletics in executing.

I recall having mixed emotions about Painter being hired. He had the one very successful year as Bruce Weber's replacement at Southern Illinois, but wasn't sure he was experienced enough. And truth be told, I didn't love him as a player, and had a time washing that out of mind. It made no sense, I get it. Just another one of my analytical shortcomings, I suppose.

It didn't take long for me to change my mind. In his initial press conference on that Good Friday afternoon, Painter was deferential to Keady, but also came across as very focused and thoughtful in his responses. I got the sense he was able to focus on what he needed to do, and that was to get out and recruit. I am not sure if the groundwork to recruit Rob Hummel, E'Twaun Moore, JaJuan Johnson and Scott Martin began on that day, but it didn't commence much later than that. Painter knew he would have to take some lumps early, and maybe take a couple of kids that weren't his first choice (Korey Spates and Nate Minnoy come to mind), but it was clear he knew what he had to do to get it done.

I also recall for Keady, the drama was over. There were rumors of Keady moving to San Francisco for a job opening. But in the end, it worked out to keep him at Purdue. Keady looked relieved and happy, and it helped him take another step in achieving the rock star/elder statesman status he has enjoyed for the past decade-and-a-half.

Most Purdue fans knew it was time for a changing of the guard, but they also knew it was the right thing to do to give Keady a victory lap.

Give credit to Burke and all those involved for making it happen.

... Matt Painter and Purdue men's basketball for all the above mentioned reasons. The Boilermaker men have raised themselves into the national consciousness for their stability and overall general success.

The numbers don't lie: Purdue has had two head coaches in 40 years, and the prospect of having Matt Painter, who will turn 50 in August, finishing his career in West Lafayette means that number could reach 55 or even 60 in job share time. In a world of uncertainty, one thing has been constant: Purdue's men's basketball program, which has been on bedrock for years.

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