More ($): Who might be next at Purdue?

Long-time Purdue assistant coach Greg Gary will depart the program following the NCAA Tournament to become the new head coach at Mercer.

The school announced his hiring Tuesday night.

Gary, who served two seasons as head coach Centenary before it dropped out of Division I by its own choosing, is finishing up his eighth season at Purdue.

He'd previously been a finalist in recent years for head coaching positions at Tulane and Eastern Kentucky, and a candidate for others.

A member of the Southern Conference, Mercer's located in Macon, Ga., near Atlanta.

The veteran assistant coach has been largely responsible in recent seasons for overseeing Purdue's offense, which has been one of the most efficient units in college basketball the past few seasons.

Throughout his tenure at Purdue, he's also been involved with coaching the Boilermakers' post players.

Gary becomes the fourth Matt Painter assistant coach to leave Purdue directly for a head coaching job, joining Cuonzo Martin and Paul Lusk — both to Missouri State — and Jack Owens, who went to Miami (Ohio). Rick Ray also became a head coach after leaving Painter's staff, but did so after a stop-over at Clemson.

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