Last year former Eastern assistant basketball coach Matt Painter took over as head coach for Bruce Weber at Southern Illinois, who found greener pastures at the University of Illinois. In two years, Painter will find himself in a similar situation.

Painter is no longer only a former Eastern assistant coach. He will add the Southern head coaching spot to his list of former positions held and attempt to fill Purdue head coach Gene Keady’s shoes.

Even though Painter has always considered the Purdue head coaching spot his dream job, and is a Purdue graduate, moving from Carbondale to West Lafayette is not an easy move.

“There’s nothing easy about the move,” Painter said. “I haven’t spent consecutive days in West Lafayette, Ind. in 11 years. It’s (the move) difficult for the family, taking my kids out of school, selling one house and buying another and that doesn’t even include the basketball aspect.”

Throw the basketball into the equation and the move seems to get even tougher in an easy sort of way.

Painter said it was difficult to leave Eastern as an assistant. He said it’s twice as difficult to leave Southern because he invested twice the amount of time into the Saluki basketball program.

“We gained national recognition and we’re not a national powerhouse by any means,” Painter said. “The players are special to me and it’s hard to preach to them one thing and then walk out the door. There’s kind of an element of hypocrisy there, but they understand as basketball players that I have to do what’s best for me and they want what’s best for me also.”

Although Painter will miss his players at Southern, he knows he has to move on.

“I like our players here,” Painter said of the Boilermakers. “They’re good kids and they work hard. We just have to get back to a mountain top program.”

One match up Painter might be looking forward to with his new team is the one against his former coaching mate Bruce Weber.

Painter said his match up with Weber may be a little awkward though, seeing as how he credits Weber for his success as a coach.

Painter has risen through the coaching ranks rather quickly and he attributes that to his loyalty and dedication to the program he was involved with at the time.

“You have to be a giver,” Painter said. “The main thing when you’re an assistant is just to do your job, listen to the head coach and do what you can to help the program. I’ve never worried about promoting myself. I’ve always consumed myself with helping the program.”

After leading Southern to a 25-5 record and an NCAA tournament berth last season, Painter will have to take a step back to assistant coach yet again. But Painter knows he won’t have his hands tied.

“Coach Keady is very open and allows assistants a lot of input,” Painter said.

Painter should know; he played under Keady for four years (1989-1993).

“It was a dream of mine just to be Coach Keady’s assistant,” Painter said. “But to be able to be the head coach in waiting is a completely different thing. It’s a unique situation.”

Eastern head coach Rick Samuels thought it was only a matter of time before Painter was chosen to succeed Keady and become Eastern’s second assistant coach, behind Ricky Birdsong, to break into the Big Ten.

“As soon as it was known that Keady was headed in another direction, speculation about Matt (Painter) started to fly,” Samuels said.

“We talked about the possibility even before the speculation.”

Playing under Keady for four years, Painter knows his style of play, which makes Purdue such a good fit for him.

“I know his (Keady’s) defensive philosophy,” Painter said. “It has always remained the same. As for his offense, coach Keady knows he has to change his philosophy with personnel.”

“I’m excited for Matt (Painter) and Purdue,” Samuels said. “It’s a great fit for both of them. Matt’s (Painter) an Indiana guy and will make the kind of contacts Purdue is famous for.”

Samuels said Painter’s magnetic personality and ability to relate to anybody will make it very easy for him to turn the Boilermakers around.

“All the things that have been described about Painter are accurate,” Samuels said. “He’s tireless in his efforts to learn about basketball.”

A tireless effort is exactly what Keady will get when Painter steps on the practice courts for the first time.

“Gene’s excited,” Samuels said. “He’s genuinely excited to pass the torch to a Boilermaker.”

“This is a great development for Purdue basketball,” Keady said on the Purdue website. “Ever since he was a player here, Matt (Painter) has had one of the sharpest basketball minds I’ve ever been around.”

At age 33 Painter can only expand his basketball mind and perhaps one day he’ll be coaching an NCAA championship.