GoldandBlack.com Saturday Simulcast: Purdue president search, Painter's long view and more
In our May 23, 2026 edition of GoldandBlack.com Saturday Simulcast, Brian Neubert and host Alan Karpick discuss Purdue hoops happenings, including the exhibition game with UConn. The duo also wades into Purdue’s search for Mung Chiang’s replacement and what effect it will have on Boilermaker athletics.
ON UNIVERSITY PRESIDENTS AND PURDUE’S SITUATION
AN EXCERPT FROM BRIAN’S WEEKLY WORD COLUMN
As the university embarks on a presidential search, it is important to remember that if you are on this site, chances are you exist in a little bubble of sports that will not be the driving force in this decision. Athletics are really important to universities. That goes without saying, I think. Are they the No. 1 priority? Very, very rarely.
Purdue, and every university of its reputation and magnitude, needs to make these hires based on advancing academic excellence, managing an organization the size of a small state, and nowadays more than ever engaging in political détente with its state government.
All that said, athletics are very important, and getting a president who recognizes that and is willing to acquiesce to the athletic department’s needs should be a very important consideration. Purdue’s friends to the south just showed in no uncertain terms what athletics can do to elevate the profile of an entire university. Purdue has never been a win-at-all-costs place, from Hovde Hall on down, but it has committed in recent years at its highest level ever.
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Greg Sankey denies super league talks with Big Ten
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NewDave Doeren thinking about ACC Championship, not retirement
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Update on NCAA's age-based eligibility proposal
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Tennessee intel: The latest on the Chaz Coleman situation
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Could the Big Ten or SEC break away from the NCAA?
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Just because football is in the tank right now competitively should not distract from the fact that Purdue is coming pretty close to maxing out its commitment to sports. Mike Berghoff, the former chair of the trustees, really drove that and gave Mike Bobinski the sort of resources needed to take basketball to another level and to make the Jeff Brohm Era for football happen.
Mung Chiang continued that, and the university’s commitment to helping Purdue with its revenue-sharing money every year was a really, really important deal that Bobinski was able to sell his bosses on. Both sides of that deserve immense credit. These are not easy times financially for either side of that equation.
Athletics will endure, but “alignment” isn’t just a buzzword. It’s a necessity for success in college sports. Purdue’s athletic department needs a supportive presence in the big chair, someone who gets the value sports can bring a university and is willing to help make it happen, while also having some understanding — or at least an interest in understanding — what college sports actually are now.
