GLENDALE, Ariz. — Lance Jones didn't need to be told about the Purdue basketball culture.

After transferring from Southern Illinois, the fifth-year guard saw it firsthand.

"I would see Zach (Edey) work out in the mornings," Jones said. "I figured out if he's working out at 7 o'clock in the morning, and he's the National Player of the Year, I should be doing the same thing."

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Matt Painter's operation is very player-led in that way.

The way to a Final Four wasn't going to be by forcing players to put in extra work. Instead, Painter recruits players he knows want to work hard and develop.

"It’s the type of players Painter brings in," said freshman Myles Colvin, who admits Painter promised him nothing but an opportunity to work hard and earn playing time. "Everybody knows what it takes to be a great player and play on this team."

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If the Boilermakers were going to break through, they had to want it for themselves.

And they did.

"Everybody gets in extra work," reserve center Caleb Furst said. "That goes back to the culture of wanting to not just get better as a team, but get better as an individual, which in turn will push other individuals, which will help the team get better as a cycle."

Make no mistake, Painter is the head of the operation.

But as he's said plenty, it's a player's game.

"Coach has done a great job of that, keeping it kind of player-led," sophomore guard Fletcher Loyer said.

No one is the "leader" of the locker room or the voice of reason within the team.

If someone speaks up, everyone listens.

If a walk-on suggests something to Edey, Edey's full focus is taking in the message, according to redshirt senior Mason Gillis.

One might be a non-scholarship player and one might be the best player in college basketball, but this thing doesn't work without trust from top to bottom.

"It’s just a collective group. There’s different moments in games where you can say he took it, I took it, whatever," point guard Braden Smith said. "At the end of the day, we’re all on the same page and we all understand what we have to do and what we need to do. It makes it so much easier for everybody."

Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at sking@jconline.com and follow him on Twitter and Instagram @samueltking.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Purdue in Final Four: Matt Painter creates culture, players lead