Matt Painter is staying put at Purdue

Matt Painter had the twitter world buzzing this morning with talk that he was very closing to reaching an agreement with Missouri to be their new men's basketball coach. Being a homegrown Purdue product and Gene Keady's hand-picked sucessor, jumping from Purdue to Mizzou did not make any sense. It made even less sense when you factor in Robbie Hummel only having one year left at Purdue.

In the end, Painter stayed with Purdue after signing a new eight-year deal.

Jeff Rabajohns with the Indy Star gets a lot of credit on this one.

The school announced in a news release that Painter and Purdue have agreed on a new 8-year contract extension.

“I am extremely excited about continuing my career at Purdue. I believe we have built something very special. At the same time, I feel we have much more ahead of us to accomplish, said Painter.

“At the end of the day, my heart is at Purdue, and this is a place where I want to win a national championship.”

“I think it’s the right thing to do. It’s a better job," Keady said about Paint staying at Purdue.[...]

Keady, Painter’s mentor, said on Tuesday that salary wasn’t the issue, but Painter wanted the overall support other programs received.

“It’s about having the opportunity to win a national title with the backing of everyone,” Keady said during negotiations. “He wants to know if an assistant coach needs a car, he can get it. If something needs to be done, they’ll do it, so he doesn’t have to worry about all the nickel and dime stuff.

“It isn’t about money.”

Painter, who played for Keady, returned to Purdue as coach-in-waiting for the 2004-05 season. After a difficult first year, Painter reeled off five consecutive 20-win seasons and NCAA Tournament appearances.

Under Painter, Purdue is one of only eight programs with four consecutive 25-win seasons.

The Muncie, Ind., native was named the Big Ten Coach of the Year in 2008, 2010 and 2011.

Painter rebuilt Purdue on the strength of Midwest recruiting and player development.

His best players — JaJuan Johnson, E’Twaun Moore, Robbie Hummel and Chris Kramer — were all from Indiana.

Here's the report from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, which talks about some of the backstory on the uproar this afternoon:

What started out as positive day for Mizzou basketball took a drastic turn this afternoon when Matt Painter turned down the school's offer to be its basketball coach, two sources close to the search said.

"He's not coming," one told the Post-Dispatch's Vahe Gregorian. The other said it was "100 percent" that the deal was off.

Earler in the day, a source told the Post-Dispatch's Bernie Miklasz that had called Mizzou athletic director Mike Alden to say he's "in" as the school's next coach.

Even Mizzou basketball player Kim English tweeted "Yeeesssssssssss!!!" just after 1:30 p.m. today without further explanation.

But this afternoon that all changed.

There was a lot of speculation this afternoon that he was gone following a twitter post from St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Bernie Miklasz saying that a source told him Mizzou was hiring Painter.

Miklasz tweeted a statement in two postings (part 1, part 2):

If my information on Painter was wrong, then all I can do is wear it. Any or all criticism of me is justified. I take pride in my reporting and my cred, so if this has blown up on me, then all I can do is apologize profusely.

He followed that up with this:

And I know that isn't good enough for many of you. But my embarrassment is profound.

And this:

Something changed and I have no idea what it was. Thanks for listening.

When it comes to coaching rumors, I turn to Jeff Goodman at FOX Sports and Gary Parrish with CBS Sports.

Now the question remains: Who will Mizzou go after next?