Rick Mount is Coming Home

As Jumboheroes published a few days ago, The Indianapolis Star is now confirming that Rick Mount is coming home tomorrow:

"I think it's going to be great, not just for Rick but also for our fans and everybody who supports Purdue," said Painter, who was part of the same 1990 Gene Keady recruiting class as Mount's son, Rich. "It's good that it's the Big Ten opener so he can see how people have appreciated him throughout the years."

This si worth playing the following just for "Coming Home"

Mount coming home ends a decades-long estrangement in which the details have never been fully revealed, but all that is important is that one of the Purdue legends is coming back to Mackey Arena.

Growing up in Indiana Mount was a legend. He is one of the best shooters to ever play the game and his dedication to honing that jumper is widely known. The outdoor court at Memorial Park in Lebanon is pretty much holy ground when it comes to Indiana High School basketball. Rick Mount was put on this earth and gifted with the best jumper imaginable. After originally committing to play basketball at Miami he changed his mind and came to Purdue. Despite playing just three years (freshmen were ineligible back then) he remains Purdue's all-time leading scorer with 2,323 points. The only player to come close in the last 35 years was E'Twaun Moore with 2,136 points, and that took 4 years and almost twice as many games (Mount only played 72, Moore played 140).

He still holds a large number of scoring records at Purdue including career average (32.3 ppg), points in a game (61 vs. Iowa in 1970), and field goals made in a game. He led Purdue to its only National Championship game in 1969 and is arguably the greatest player to ever suit up for Purdue.

Even today, his influence is still prominent. Over the last 45 years many of the state's top players have sought him out for pointers on their own shot. He has delivered hundreds if not thousands of teaching moments during shooting clinics all over the state and country. When I was growing up the stories of him teaching with a wireless mike and draining jumper after jumper as he instructed were common. Even today, he has tutored Lebanon's Kristen Spolyar, who is one of the top high school scorer in America as a senior this year.

His bitter feud with Purdue allegedly started when his son, Richie, did not get the playing time he wanted under Gene Keady in the late 80s. Since then, the relationship between him and his alma mater has been frosty, but when Purdue announced that tomorrow's game with Iowa would be a night to honor him with a bobblehead they extended an invitation for him to come home.

Not many people expected him to accept, given the mysterious reasons as to why there was no relationship there for decades, but surprisingly, he is coming home.

This makes for a great night, win or lose. A true legend for Purdue will be in the house and I feel honored to have a media pass to be able to witness it. I will cover things as well as I can without being strarstruck, but I was one of those kids that, while growing up, I wanted his jumper and wanted to emulate him. I remember seeing his son play in high school and felt in awe that he was in the same building as me.

Even after years of bitterness, there will be an incredible ovation tomorrow night as we welcome Rick home.