Last minute change of heart leaves MU back at square one
by MizzMatt - 3/30/11 @mizzou_matt on Twitter
Columbia, MO- Heartache. Depression. Letdown. Sadness. Failure. All those come to a Tiger fans mind when they hear that it's being REPORTED that Matt Painter is staying at Purdue. Coming just a couple hours after stories broke saying he's accepted the MU deal, new reports are emerging stating that he's signed an eight year deal with the Boilermakers.
And this is my official retraction of any statement I've made regarding the story. In today's age, one thing gets posted on the internet, and in an instant, it's spread like wild fire. In this situation, nobody was right, nobody was wrong. Painter changed his mind at the last minute. It IS his Alma Mater, after all. We're still awaiting the OFFICIAL word from Painter himself, and once that word is made, either we'll have a new coach, or we'll be back at square one. I've said it a lot over the last few days- I'm not a reporter. I just pass on what I hear from other sources. My sources include the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Kansas City Star, KOMU-TV8 news, ESPN, as well as individual reporters from those outlets. I was going off of their word that Painter was a done deal. I was going off of who I thought were top-notch, reliable sources. Turns out, they were wrong, which in turn, makes me wrong.
So as of right now, the latest word is that Painter is staying. The official announcement will come later on this evening. Either way it goes, we tried. We swung for the fences, and for a while, it was looking good. Just as is human nature, Painter had a change of heart. While it is crushing to hear, he does have that right. Perhaps we all jumped the gun and jinxed it. Perhaps it was the thought of his Alma Mater that made him stay. Perhaps it was nothing at all, and just like Anderson, Painter blew smoke up our rear ends. Nobody knows for sure.
