WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- After being so close the previous three years finishing second, Purdue men's basketball head coach Matt Painter and Purdue fans everywhere broke through and won this year's Coaches Charity Challenge by the slimmest of margins over Iowa State head coach Fred Hoiberg and the Cyclone faithful.
For two weeks, the final four coaches of Painter, Hoiberg, Wichita State's Gregg Marshall and Michigan's John Beilein politicked the nation's college basketball fans for their votes to raise $100,000 for their designated charity. After two weeks, much like his basketball team, Painter rallied during the second half of the two weeks to overtake Hoiberg and claim $100,000 for the Smith Family BReaK Thru Fund. During the first week, the Boilermakers' head coach trailed by as much as eight percent, but he used a strong campaign to surge ahead early in the week, then held off every single charge by the man they call "The Mayor" in Ames, Iowa.
"I am very humbled to win $100,000 for the Smith Family BReaK Thru Fund and want to thank all the Purdue and college basketball fans everywhere for their participation in this fundraiser for all the coaches involved," Painter said. "The charity is for a very important cause and I hope that our involvement can help raise awareness as we continue to fight Niemann-Pick Type C Disease."
Painter finished the final round of voting with 47 percent, while Hoiberg, who was competing for the American Heart Association, was second at 46 percent. Marshall was third at four percent and Beilein was fourth at three percent. The three runner-up finishers won $15,000 for their respective charities.
The Smith Family BReaK Thru Fund is a West Lafayette-based organization whose mission is to fund research to fight Niemann-Pick Type C Disease (NPC). The fund was set up by a family with three children impacted by NPC, and has funded more than $250,000 in research at Purdue since its inception in 2008.
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