Before we start unpacking what David Bell’s commitment to Purdue minutes ago means for this ascending-but-far-from-arrived Boilermaker program, a quick anecdote.
Two springs ago, I was covering an Under Armour camp in the north suburbs of Chicago and there a lot of players there of all shapes and sizes and projected levels, including some elite underclassmen.
If you’ve followed this site for any meaningful period of time, hopefully you know that we don’t spend a lot of time chasing red herrings. We don’t want to make you think Purdue is going to get players it’s not, and as importantly, we don’t want to put those players in positions to say stuff they don’t mean, or even lie.
In football, that was the approach basically paralyzed our coverage entirely, pretty much applying to any player with another major offer, any other major offer.
So when George Karlaftis checked in for the camp and strolled through the media area, I left him alone. He wasn’t coming to Purdue, so why bother him?
And when David Bell checked in shortly thereafter, same deal.
These were two top-100-type players nationally.
Purdue wasn’t going to get either of them.
Only, it did, reflecting the significant transformation that happened in a very short period of time in West Lafayette, one that has now yielded a recruiting class pushing the top-25 nationally, for whatever such things are worth in the moment.
It’s a class already highlighted by Karlaftis and fellow four-star recruits Milton Wright, Marvin Grant and Steven Faucheux, All-American Bowl pick Kyle Bilodeau and on down the line.
And now, Bell, maybe the biggest get yet, for a variety of reasons.
He will have to stay healthy and obviously learn very quickly, but this is a player with immediate-starter potential, same as Rondale Moore last season. Can he have the same sort of freshman season? No. Because who can? But he can help Purdue immediately. Of that, I’m certain, and I’ve seen Bell live on multiple occasions.
He’s big, he’s athletic, he’s physical, he’s fast enough, he catches contested balls, he blocks and he just has a knack, a penchant for making plays that gives him what I’m not sure I can define but I know it when I see it: Starpower.
And he carries himself that way, a great leader with an outgoing, charismatic way about him, maturity beyond his years and a long shadow cast in Indianapolis, where, if he pans out as hoped, he’ll look good for Purdue on billboards one day.
This is what offensive identity does for you. This is what winning does for you, momentum and buzz. It’s what having dogged recruiters and strong, clear messaging in recruiting does for you.
It’s another significant recruiting win for Purdue, maybe the biggest yet, and that says something.
And another reflection of just how far things have come in a very short period of time, as if another reminder was even needed.
Two springs ago, I was covering an Under Armour camp in the north suburbs of Chicago and there a lot of players there of all shapes and sizes and projected levels, including some elite underclassmen.
If you’ve followed this site for any meaningful period of time, hopefully you know that we don’t spend a lot of time chasing red herrings. We don’t want to make you think Purdue is going to get players it’s not, and as importantly, we don’t want to put those players in positions to say stuff they don’t mean, or even lie.
In football, that was the approach basically paralyzed our coverage entirely, pretty much applying to any player with another major offer, any other major offer.
So when George Karlaftis checked in for the camp and strolled through the media area, I left him alone. He wasn’t coming to Purdue, so why bother him?
And when David Bell checked in shortly thereafter, same deal.
These were two top-100-type players nationally.
Purdue wasn’t going to get either of them.
Only, it did, reflecting the significant transformation that happened in a very short period of time in West Lafayette, one that has now yielded a recruiting class pushing the top-25 nationally, for whatever such things are worth in the moment.
It’s a class already highlighted by Karlaftis and fellow four-star recruits Milton Wright, Marvin Grant and Steven Faucheux, All-American Bowl pick Kyle Bilodeau and on down the line.
And now, Bell, maybe the biggest get yet, for a variety of reasons.
He will have to stay healthy and obviously learn very quickly, but this is a player with immediate-starter potential, same as Rondale Moore last season. Can he have the same sort of freshman season? No. Because who can? But he can help Purdue immediately. Of that, I’m certain, and I’ve seen Bell live on multiple occasions.
He’s big, he’s athletic, he’s physical, he’s fast enough, he catches contested balls, he blocks and he just has a knack, a penchant for making plays that gives him what I’m not sure I can define but I know it when I see it: Starpower.
And he carries himself that way, a great leader with an outgoing, charismatic way about him, maturity beyond his years and a long shadow cast in Indianapolis, where, if he pans out as hoped, he’ll look good for Purdue on billboards one day.
This is what offensive identity does for you. This is what winning does for you, momentum and buzz. It’s what having dogged recruiters and strong, clear messaging in recruiting does for you.
It’s another significant recruiting win for Purdue, maybe the biggest yet, and that says something.
And another reflection of just how far things have come in a very short period of time, as if another reminder was even needed.
