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Welcome to this week's “BOILING OVER,” GoldandBlack.com’s weekly information-clearinghouse and analysis column meant for our site members and site members only. We appreciate everyone’s cooperation in helping us keep what is sometimes delicate or proprietary information confined to this message board. This feature allows us to be more flexible in our reporting, to our readers' benefit, and we lose that ability if we can't keep this feature secure and the value of our site's membership at its peak. Additionally, we address recruiting and hiring processes in-depth and often without filter in this feature and we do it behind a subscription-protected barrier for a reason, in hopes of avoiding situations where our reporting can impact the recruiting process, which can happen occasionally.
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Honestly, this may be the deadest recruiting week of the year right now — and I'm not forgetting that there was a pandemic — so you'll have to bear with us when things get a little light.
PURDUE BASKETBALL RECRUITING
Purdue's basketball program has been quiet the past couple weeks, as the players all went home — or wherever they may go when such opportunities present themselves — prior to the fall semester and coaches either decompressed following July or moved from wherever they lived last year (or saw their families who may still live in those places.)
So not much going on beyond what we have told you already, that Purdue will host Xavier Booker and Myles Colvin for official visits for the Oregon State weekend, the first official visit events of the 2023 cycle for the Boilermaker staff.
Meanwhile, on the 2022 front, for as much as Matt Painter will want to avoid building a program around the transfer portal, with every week that passes it seems more and more likely that if Purdue is going to find a big man for the 2022 class, that may be the most likely avenue, though coaches still have all fall to find something in an open gym that they couldn't find in July.
Things have happened before where new high school offers have popped up in September or even October, months after Purdue had watched kids play. Zach Edey is one example.
But the circumstances now are different. When Matt Haarms (another example) and Edey were offered, that happened after some other players who Purdue had been waiting on fell off the board. This summer, there has been little to no Impetus for Purdue to wait on anything. Tarris Reed was the last man standing, and Purdue had to have an idea that was happening well in advance of it becoming official. (I'm still surprised things didn't come together with Kebba Njie to be honest.)
That's It, folks. That's what's going on right now for Purdue in basketball recruiting: Very little until September visits start.
Couple other small things ...
• Again, if you're prone to such things, don't fret over the buzz about Myles Colvin and the Overtime Elite pro (semi-pro?) league. The family is obviously flattered and happy to tout a pretty high compliment for an emerging player, but they see the big picture here, obviously. He'll be at Purdue.
He'll also be ranked on a few top-100/top-150 lists when such things start coming out. (BN)
PURDUE FOOTBALL
New Boilermaker transfer Sampson James should now be on campus and should start practicing next week. Again, if there's a path to him being eligible to play right away, we're not sure what it is. You never say never, but we'd consider it a long shot. (staff)
PURDUE FOOTBALL RECRUITING
This weekend, the Indiana high school football season starts.
I'm going to go out to the West Lafayette-Jeff game to watch Mariere Omonode — who Purdue is still waiting on; it's a bit surprising he's not made a call yet between them and Arkansas State.
Among Purdue's commitments ...
Linebacker Domanick Moon and Snider will open against Fort Wayne North, which has Purdue 2023 wide receiver/athlete target Tae Johnson.
Joe Strickland and Brebeuf open up at Chatard. I'll cover their home opener next weekend against New Palestine. (Always easier to cover home games, since there's no rush for them to get on a bus after the game.)
Brady Allen and Gibson Southern will get a hell of a test early from 5A Columbus North.
As always we'll do our best to get you accurate stats and results each weekend, and get to as many games in-person as we can during the fall.
The 2022 cycle, or at least the early portion of it, Is down to just corner as an urgent need.
Purdue wants Omonode and we believe they could and would accommodate another wide receiver should the opportunity arise, but cornerback is the last need, per se.
PURDUE BASKETBALL
Couple small notes ...
• Summer buzz is what it is, but Isaiah Thompson had a good summer when he was healthy, by every account. Purdue liked how he played late in the season and he seems to have done a good job this summer. As we've said before, Thompson himself has admitted that he didn't have the greatest off-season last year but the unprecedented circumstances.
• Purdue's aim to replace the Crossroads Classic on its schedule is a wide-open slate and may not necessarily result in an annual local event.
• One of the areas where sophomore Ethan Morton will be quick to tell he needs to improve: Defensively, especially against quicker people.
That said, he did mention the hypothetical of Purdue cross-matching up defensively, the way it has at times over the years, notably with Carsen Edwards and Nojel Eastern.
That would mean Morton playing the point guard position on offense, but guarding a different position, which would then mean Jaden Ivey or someone else — Eric Hunter or Thompson if they ever moved off the 1 to play with Morton if that ever happened — handling full-court pressure on the other team's primary ball-handler.
That would seem like something where Morton would need to providing huge value offensively for that to be in order. Otherwise, if Purdue wants him out there it could be at positions other than the 1 so that defensive matchups are already optimized. The window for him to play the 4 has likely come and gone, but the 2 and the 3 are spots he can be slotted into.
You can tell we have nothing else to write about, can't you? (BN)
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