Painter turns down Mizzou, returns to Purdue

The past year has been a case of Missouri being the bridesmaid and not the bride.

And Wednesday's news that Purdue coach Matt Painter rejected the Tigers offer to be their head coach is just another instance where Missouri fell short.

This past summer, Mizzou was convinced -- and convinced everyone around it ?- that it was joining the Big Ten Conference. Only the Big Ten didn't feel the same way and opted to only invite Nebraska.

Last month, Missouri believed coach Mike Anderson when he said he wanted to retire as Mizzou's head coach. Last week, he accepted the head coaching position at Arkansas.

And now this.

Painter was a big fish, but one Missouri had on its hook. According to various reports, Painter met with Mizzou officials in Florida, talked to coaches in the St. Louis area about the feelings toward the school. He did his due diligence, and Wednesday morning even famed St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Bernie Miklasz thought Painter was coming to Columbia.

But at the last minute, Painter changed his mind and pledged his allegiance to the Boilermakers. This little scare ended up being a nice little lesson for Purdue athletic director Morgan Burke, who locked Painter up with a new eight-year contract, which should have the incentives a coach like Painter and his staff deserves.

As for Mizzou, the theme song of this year should be Whitney Houston's "Didn't We Almost Have it All."

Still, Missouri is a good job, with good players remaining on the roster, good senior leadership and a couple open scholarships for a coach to come in and put his stamp on the program right away. But pickings are getting slim.

Guys like Richmond's Chris Mooney, Marquette's Buzz Williams and Memphis' Josh Pastner have signed extensions to stay with their current schools. BYU's Dave Rose and UNLV's Lon Kruger have already turned down overtures from Oklahoma and sworn loyalty to their current programs. Butler's Brad Stevens has played his way into an elite job down the road, so he will be in no hurry to leave. VCU's Shaka Smart is a hot name, but he's also won with a lot of former coach Anthony Grant's players -- the same Anthony Grant who has his Alabama team in the NIT final.

So now, Mizzou starts looking at potential mid-major stars like Northern Iowa's Ben Jacobson and Wichita State's Gregg Marshall, none of whom are nearly as exciting as Painter was.

If there's one saving grace for Missouri it's that the Final Four is often where deals get done. There's no doubt that coaches and agents have contacted Missouri athletic director Mike Alden and meetings will continue this week, but now it's up to Missouri to make the best out of yet another bad situation.

Elisabeth Röhm Lily Allen Emmanuelle Chriqui Anna Faris Lil Kim