Jon Coffman said a decade of persistence led to Purdue men’s basketball playing an exhibition against its Fort Wayne sister campus — in the Mastodons’ arena — in October.
In an interview with WANE’s Glenn Marini, Fort Wayne coach Coffman said he first broached the subject of the Boilermakers playing at Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in 2016. He doubled down a few years ago at a fundraiser run for former Purdue guard Raphael Davis’ CREW Life Foundation. Coffman pounced during the Q&A.
Advertisement
“I asked the emcee if I could ask a question of coach Painter,” Coffman said. “So I bullied him there a little bit.”
Fort Wayne memorably beat then-No. 3 Indiana on Nov. 22, 2016 at the Coliseum. The Hoosiers won in Bloomington a year later to close a three-game series. Neither of the state’s Big Ten schools has played a regular-season game against the Mastodons since.
Painter has rostered several Fort Wayne-area players over the course of that decade, including Caleb Furst and Fletcher Loyer in recent years. This season’s roster has none. The closest geographically are walk-on guard Jace Rayl, from Kokomo, and redshirt freshman guard Antione West Jr., from Toledo, Ohio.
Insider: Versatility key part of new era for Purdue basketball as summer practice opens: 4 observations
Advertisement
The coliseum drew an announced crowd of 11,076 fans for that 2016 game vs. IU. Coffman said he thinks, despite the exhibition status, the game with Purdue could challenge or exceed that attendance figue.
“It’s an exciting opportunity for access,” Coffman said. “You get access to Division I ever year, but then to get a Power Four team in Memorial Coliseum playing the Mastodons, that’s pretty cool.”
Nathan Baird and Sam King have the best Purdue sports coverage, and sign up for IndyStar’s Boilermakers newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Purdue Fort Wayne excited to host Purdue basketball in exhibition
