By CEDRIC COLLINGE, Student Reporter
Dylan Painter is not just any average joe off the main street in Moore, Oklahoma. Dylan is a national champion.
The graduate assistant for the Northwestern Men’s Basketball team is the only one on the team who has received such an awe-inspiring milestone millions of people in this country cannot say they have done. That not only includes the players on the team but the coaching staff as well.
Although, everyone has their own backstory on how they got to be the person they are today, who helped, why they made the decisions the led up to today, where they have been, and the how to get through the situations they were presented with. This story is about how a national champion came to be.
Born in Moore, Oklahoma and raised just thirty minutes south in Purcell. A three-sport all the way through high school yet, he pursued the life of basketball instead. After high school basketball was his goal attending Hillsdale Baptist is freshman year then transferring to a community college taking a year off to train. Then in 2013 Dylan walked on at Mid-America College to play Junior Varsity up until year 2015 before being called up his senior year. During this year he had blown out a knee and went through knee surgery, so he began to work with the coaching staff spring semester visualizing the game of basketball from the outside on in. Coach Anthony Nero was inspiration for Dylan to pursue earning his degree and pursue college or professional coaching.
Dylan will have a graduate degree in adult education and athletic administration with an undergrad in higher mathematics. A statistician when comes basketball and even football, Dylan has all the answers to practically any professional player between the two sports. Most people could tell you how many rings Michael Jordan ended his career with off the top of their head.
Dylan on the other hand could tell you where he stands on the all-time scoring list for the NBA to the exact number. I have always said those with math skills are blessed with such knowledge because I don’t understand how letters can be numbers. After his national title win in his last year at Mid-America College from March on he started applying for jobs. He got in touch with Athletic Director (Head coach of Men’s Basketball at the time) Brad Franz about Northwestern where he became interested in the program to come and work. After Franz was promoted to Athletic Director, Dylan spoke with newly hired
Coach Shawn Dirden who gave him gave the chance to be an assistant and be well on his way to success. Speaking with Dylan about his short term and long term goals he seemed to know exactly what he wanted to do without hesitation. His short term goal is to help the men’s basketball team be successful and earn his master’s degree which is fairly simple. But, his long term goal is something I found to be unique and just the right fit for him after getting to know him better, a player development coach for the NBA. With such high aspirations, all he needs is a paintbrush to fulfill is goals. Best of luck to you Dylan Painter.