Lusk promoted to associate head coach

Entering his fifth year at Purdue, men's basketball assistant coach Paul Lusk has been promoted to the title of associate head coach.

The title was previously held by Cuonzo Martin, who left this spring to become the head coach at Missouri State.

Lusk came to West Lafayette shortly after Matt Painter's hiring as Gene Keady's successor-in-waiting in 2004. He spent one season on Keady's staff before Painter's elevation.

Since then, he's been an integral member of a coaching staff that's led the Boilermakers to back-to-back 20-plus-win seasons and galvanized Purdue's recruiting.

"Paul's efforts at Purdue have earned him the distinction of being associate head coach," Painter said in a released statement. "I am confident that his work will help Purdue basketball continue its upward movement towards the top of the Big Ten."

Lusk, 36, previously coached with Painter - as well as first-year assistant coach Jack Owens - at his alma mater, Southern Illinois.