Gary previously spent two seasons as head coach at Centenary.

Purdue's offense has ranked in the top five nationally in efficiency the past two seasons.

Thursday's South Regional semifinals: 3 Purdue vs. 2 Tennessee, 7:29 p.m., TBS

WEST LAFAYETTE – Purdue basketball players doused assistant coach Greg Gary with water bottles Wednesday a way to congratulate on him becoming the next head coach at Mercer.

That wasn't a send-off, however. The realities of the college basketball calendar sometimes forces prospective coaches and the teams pursuing them to negotiate while the latter are on March Madness runs. Gary is excited about his future at the Southern Conference program in Macon, Georgia, but focused on Thursday night against Tennessee.

"I would not be in the situation I'm in if it wasn't for coach (Matt) Painter and all the guys and the whole staff," Gary said. "We've still got a job to do here, so it's not that difficult. You've got to stay focused on the job at hand right now."

Gary is the second Matt Painter assistant in three years to leave for a head coaching opportunity. Jack Owens just finished his second season at Miami of Ohio.

Gary is in his eighth season on Painter's staff and in recent years has essentially served as the team's offensive coordinator. He's the one signaling in plays from the sideline by writing them on an ever-present hand-held white board.

Purdue has ranked in the top 25 nationally Ken Pomeroy's adjusted offensive efficiency over the past four seasons, including second last season and fifth this season.

"He knows the game so well, and Mercer needs to know they're getting an incredible coach and I couldn't be more happy for him," Purdue senior guard Ryan Cline said.

"Those easy plays, those dunks, those buckets we need in crunch time, he's the one that draws them up. He's so good at reading defenses and seeing what they're doing and seeing what we need to do better."

Mercer fired Bob Hoffman following an 11-20 season, his 11th. The Bears last made the NCAA Tournament in 2014 and made a name for themselves with an upset of 3 seed Duke.

"it's in a really good league," Gary said. "They're committed to basketball. They've got the resources. The facility's great, the fan support, it's a great school, it's in a great area where there's a lot of players. They've had a tradition of winning. I just kept checking off boxes."

Gary, an Anderson native, came to Purdue from Duquesne. He stepped down as head coach at Centenary after two seasons when that school chose to reclassify to Division III. He also coached at South Florida, Miami, Tulane, his alma mater, and McNeese State.

Gary said the past eight seasons under Painter gave him a new perspective to take to Mercer.

"You never stop learning and he's an extremely intelligent person — not just a coach but person — just dealing with certain people and certain situations," Gary said.

"In coaching you always think you've seen it all or dealt with it all but there's always something new that comes up. Being able to be around him for eight years and see how he's handled certain situations, I've just been a sponge absorbing it."

Contact Journal & Courier Purdue men's basketball insider Nathan Baird at nbaird@jconline.com or 765-420-5234. Follow on Twitter: @nbairdjc