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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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PURDUE FOOTBALL RECRUITING
So, we do have reason to think that Purdue could be on the verge of its second Class of 2023 commitment, as Winston Berglund from Carmel has been one of those prospects where it's seemed like it's only a matter of time here.
Former Purdue staffers Brad Lambert and James Adams have offered Berglund for Wake Forest, and there is some sentiment to make a visit there to do right by them since there's a relationship there, but Purdue's been his long-time school, and the formalization of David Elson as his would-be position coach at Purdue might be the final straw here.
Not sure when the Wake visit will occur, but the writing's on the wall here. (BN)
PURDUE BASKETBALL RECRUITING
So Purdue signee William Berg is back in action again after sitting out the first several weeks of his season due to a foot problem, the flavor-of-the-year ailment around Purdue recruits.
Berg send us game video that I was going to preview here, but as I just sat down to work on this from the road, I realized It's a full game and not highlight. That's what we'd prefer but also something that would require time I don't have at the moment working from this Fort Wayne McDonald's.
I will pull highlights from that game and give you some added thoughts when I get home from Michigan. (BN)
PURDUE BASKETBALL RECRUITING
On 2023 basketball recruiting: This is a wide-open slate right now and Purdue has to have a big guy in that class, but also can't possibly know what It's scholarship situation looks like right now.
We can tell with relative certainty that long-time target Xavier Booker is likely a non-starer. We can't imagine Purdue hanging in there with him as an absolute priority at this point.
Now, understand this: That's my opinion, the assessment of a guy who's covered recruiting for 20 years, Purdue recruiting for 20 years, and has a pretty good idea about the turn-ons and turn-offs of that whole process. I'm not aware of Purdue having formally withdrawn or whatever, but that's my expectation.
I have no idea who Purdue is going to target from here on out. My guess is Purdue has no idea who it's going to target. Cooper Koch has an offer and is supposed to visit maybe this weekend, but I'm not aware of anything having changed in terms of something dramatic probably having to happen to move him off Iowa, for which he's a legacy.
Koch is also not really a center, so even if Purdue can get him, there'd be a need at the 5 most likely.
The flies in the ointment here are NBA decisions and the transfer cycle.
I don't see a scenario where Purdue can keep on the sideline during transfer season, no matter how much Matt Painter may prefer otherwise.
Jaden Ivey has to leave for the NBA, which will leave a considerable scoring void, on top of a playmaking void. Purdue would like to upgrade its guard play, which Eric Hunter has done in-season this year, but that's a major void to come, as well. They will be in the point guard market.
(We do not expect any of Purdue's seniors to change their minds and come back, but that possibility remains conceivable even though all three guys informed Matt Painter last summer that they'd be leaving.)
It is my guess right now that Zach Edey will be back next season. There's a lot of season left to be played, but the way things have played out thus far, I don't know if it would make the most sense to go now. But you'd have to think he'll go through the assessment process and if he goes to those workouts and makes jumpers or shocks people with his quickness, then you never know.
Should be leave, then Purdue has to recruit a center, and they may anyway simply to offset the loss of Trevion Williams, though Caleb Furst can be an enormous asset at the 5 over time, in our opinion. He could give Purdue more mobility defensively, a floor-stretching element offensively and a skilled enough player to perhaps handle some of the dribble-handoff and elbow-offense stuff Trevion Williams does now. Furst could be an outstanding pick-and-roll guy; it's just too bad Purdue will never get to see him run it with former grassroots teammate Ivey. They had a real synergy a couple summers back.
Anyway, this may sound crazy to say, but I'm not sure what Purdue can even be doing right now recruiting-wise. The schedule is prohibitive to going out and watching games, you can't have underclassmen at games anymore, and Purdue only has one scholarship on paper, with no idea what transfers might be available.
You ask me what's going on for Purdue in recruiting right this second and I wouldn't be kidding if I told you it's next to nothing.
PURDUE FOOTBALL
Just to reiterate some of what Tom's already told you, Purdue wide receiver Milton Wright remains in school and is working to regain his eligibility after he was Ineligible for the bowl game.
It's our understanding he might even be able to go through spring ball, though Purdue would likely probably prefer his attention be elsewhere.
We do think that he has a lot of ground to make up, and it is no foregone conclusion he will make It, but that's the hope anyway.
It's a wait-and-see deal, plain and simple, and often these things extend into the summer. (staff)
PURDUE BASKETBALL
A bit of research spear-headed by industrious staff Swiss Army knife Jordan Jones ...
Over the past six seasons dating back to 2016-17, and including this one, Purdue has built double-digit leads in 64 percent of its games.
In the 192 games played, prior to tonight’s game with Michigan, the Boilermakers have won 93 percent of those games, and have recovered to win after losing double-digit leads 10 of 17 times.
This year, Purdue has built a 10-point (or greater) lead in 22 of its 24 (92%) games and has lost double-digit leads four times, recovering to win three (at Penn State, at Illinois, North Carolina).
Previously, the Boilermakers’ single-season high-water mark for percentage of games in which it held a double-digit lead was 2017-18, when it finished with a 30-7 overall mark and held double digit leads in 29 (78%) of those games.
In that season, Purdue lost six of those leads, but recovered to win three of those games. (JJ/AK)
