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NEW ORLEANS – Carl Landry opened his mouth Saturday, and out came the boldest statement of the 2007 NCAA basketball tournament.
"If our shots are falling," he said, "Florida has no chance."
That would be top-seeded Florida, the defending national champion, which plays Purdue Sunday here in a second-round game. And that would be the normally humble Carl Landry, a senior forward for the Purdue Boilermakers whose remark all but prompted a collective, "Excuse me?"
Sitting on a dais in the interview room, Landry suddenly looked as startled by his own comment as the gathered media did. And when Purdue coach Matt Painter arrived at the press conference shortly thereafter, the coach was in full damage control.
"Please erase anything Carl said from the transcript," he said. "He's not all there."
Yet while Landry's remark sounded outrageous, it's no less improbable than the resurrection of Purdue basketball and the rise of Landry himself.
Gene Keady's combover is gone, and so is the legendary coach. He retired after the 2004-05 season at the age of 69, amidst one of the worst stretches in the school's basketball history.
The Boilermakers – once home to Glenn "Big Dog" Robinson and a program that had become a fixture in the NCAA tournament having once reached the Elite Eight – went 7-21 in Keady's last season and 9-19 in Painter's first season as his successor.
Now, the Boilermakers are 22-11, coming off a victory over Arizona and, though they probably wish Landry had kept his mouth shut, confident enough to think they have a chance to knock off Florida. Equally amazing, Landry, who averaged a measly seven points as a high school senior, is now the centerpiece of a rejuvenated basketball program.
It's not just the fact he averages a team-high 18.9 points and 7.2 rebounds. It's that he sets the tone for a team that would probably look as comfortable in a roller-derby rink as it does on the basketball court, with Landry using his 6-foot-7, 245-pound body as a battering ram.
"We're a team that likes to get down and dirty," he said.
It's unclear if Purdue's bump-and-grind style can fluster a Florida team that prefers to play at breakneck speed. But one thing is clear: For the first time in four years, Purdue basketball matters.
If there was any doubt the Boilermakers had regained their relevance, their game against Arizona on Friday dispelled it.
There was Landry, out-muscling Arizona's taller frontline. There was Chris Kramer, a freshman guard, slipping to the floor just inside the free throw line and making a shot from his knees. There was Painter, calmly directing his team. And there were the Boilermakers, dancing in front of their pep band after a 72-63 victory that earned Purdue a shot against Florida and signaled its return to college basketball prominence.
"To be honest, it's happened faster than I thought it would," said Painter, Keady's handpicked successor.
Whereas Keady wore a scowl as if it were surgically fixed to his face, Painter looks almost placid as he paces the sideline. But Painter, who played for Keady between 1989 and 1993, said there are plenty of similarities between his style and Keady's.
"The only difference is our age and our hair," Painter said, obviously proud of his full head of brown hair that requires no comb over.
Painter distinguished himself at Southern Illinois, where he guided the team to a 25-5 record and an NCAA tournament berth in 2004. He joined Purdue as the associate head coach during Keady's last season.
But Purdue's turnaround involved more than coaching genius. First, Purdue picked two players off the scrap heap, taking Landry and fellow senior David Teague before they went from two players few wanted to a tandem everybody would love to have.
They were part of an Extreme Makeover.
None of Purdue's top five players this year were suited up last season when Purdue had only seven scholarship players. Landry and Teague were recovering from knee surgery. Gordon Watt was sitting out after transferring from Boston College. Tarrance Crump was suspended for the year after a DUI. Kramer was still in high school.
Now they're members of a team that earlier this season led Ohio State and Greg Oden in Columbus by six points with less than eight minutes remaining, a team that played the powerhouse Buckeyes tough yet again in the Big Ten tournament semifinals, and a team that slowed down Arizona here Friday much like they hope to slow down Florida Sunday.
It's also a team that was trying to qualify Landry's comments as reporters compared notes to make sure they'd heard him right. They had.
"If our shots are falling," he said, "Florida has no chance."
Kramer and Teague, sitting on either side of Landry, looked stunned by the remarks and spent the next couple of minutes trying to suppress laughter. But later, when pressed about what they thought about their chances against Florida, it was clear the only thing they thought was funny is the boastful way Landry expressed himself, not the notion of beating Florida.
It was clear they understand that Purdue basketball is no longer a joke.
"If our shots are falling," he said, "Florida has no chance."
That would be top-seeded Florida, the defending national champion, which plays Purdue Sunday here in a second-round game. And that would be the normally humble Carl Landry, a senior forward for the Purdue Boilermakers whose remark all but prompted a collective, "Excuse me?"
Sitting on a dais in the interview room, Landry suddenly looked as startled by his own comment as the gathered media did. And when Purdue coach Matt Painter arrived at the press conference shortly thereafter, the coach was in full damage control.
"Please erase anything Carl said from the transcript," he said. "He's not all there."
Yet while Landry's remark sounded outrageous, it's no less improbable than the resurrection of Purdue basketball and the rise of Landry himself.
Gene Keady's combover is gone, and so is the legendary coach. He retired after the 2004-05 season at the age of 69, amidst one of the worst stretches in the school's basketball history.
The Boilermakers – once home to Glenn "Big Dog" Robinson and a program that had become a fixture in the NCAA tournament having once reached the Elite Eight – went 7-21 in Keady's last season and 9-19 in Painter's first season as his successor.
Now, the Boilermakers are 22-11, coming off a victory over Arizona and, though they probably wish Landry had kept his mouth shut, confident enough to think they have a chance to knock off Florida. Equally amazing, Landry, who averaged a measly seven points as a high school senior, is now the centerpiece of a rejuvenated basketball program.
It's not just the fact he averages a team-high 18.9 points and 7.2 rebounds. It's that he sets the tone for a team that would probably look as comfortable in a roller-derby rink as it does on the basketball court, with Landry using his 6-foot-7, 245-pound body as a battering ram.
"We're a team that likes to get down and dirty," he said.
It's unclear if Purdue's bump-and-grind style can fluster a Florida team that prefers to play at breakneck speed. But one thing is clear: For the first time in four years, Purdue basketball matters.
If there was any doubt the Boilermakers had regained their relevance, their game against Arizona on Friday dispelled it.
There was Landry, out-muscling Arizona's taller frontline. There was Chris Kramer, a freshman guard, slipping to the floor just inside the free throw line and making a shot from his knees. There was Painter, calmly directing his team. And there were the Boilermakers, dancing in front of their pep band after a 72-63 victory that earned Purdue a shot against Florida and signaled its return to college basketball prominence.
"To be honest, it's happened faster than I thought it would," said Painter, Keady's handpicked successor.
Whereas Keady wore a scowl as if it were surgically fixed to his face, Painter looks almost placid as he paces the sideline. But Painter, who played for Keady between 1989 and 1993, said there are plenty of similarities between his style and Keady's.
"The only difference is our age and our hair," Painter said, obviously proud of his full head of brown hair that requires no comb over.
Painter distinguished himself at Southern Illinois, where he guided the team to a 25-5 record and an NCAA tournament berth in 2004. He joined Purdue as the associate head coach during Keady's last season.
But Purdue's turnaround involved more than coaching genius. First, Purdue picked two players off the scrap heap, taking Landry and fellow senior David Teague before they went from two players few wanted to a tandem everybody would love to have.
They were part of an Extreme Makeover.
None of Purdue's top five players this year were suited up last season when Purdue had only seven scholarship players. Landry and Teague were recovering from knee surgery. Gordon Watt was sitting out after transferring from Boston College. Tarrance Crump was suspended for the year after a DUI. Kramer was still in high school.
Now they're members of a team that earlier this season led Ohio State and Greg Oden in Columbus by six points with less than eight minutes remaining, a team that played the powerhouse Buckeyes tough yet again in the Big Ten tournament semifinals, and a team that slowed down Arizona here Friday much like they hope to slow down Florida Sunday.
It's also a team that was trying to qualify Landry's comments as reporters compared notes to make sure they'd heard him right. They had.
"If our shots are falling," he said, "Florida has no chance."
Kramer and Teague, sitting on either side of Landry, looked stunned by the remarks and spent the next couple of minutes trying to suppress laughter. But later, when pressed about what they thought about their chances against Florida, it was clear the only thing they thought was funny is the boastful way Landry expressed himself, not the notion of beating Florida.
It was clear they understand that Purdue basketball is no longer a joke.
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