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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 BASKETBALL
Yesterday, I got to watch Purdue's first workout/summer practice, and It was sort of warped reality because literally half the team (scholarships-wise, at least) was sidelined, but figured I'd pass along some half-baked takes from the first day of skeleton crew practice.
(Caleb Furst, Brian Waddell and Braden Smith, as you know, are out for a while, and neither Camden Heide nor Brandon Newman took part yesterday. Heide is managing his foot, I guess, and Newman wasn't feeling well, I think.)
• Among those participating, the guy who jumps off the page: Trey Kaufman-Renn.
He shot the hell out of the ball yesterday and looks like a transformed player physically, big and strong. He's been quite dedicated to the weight room and seems to be that next really driven guy in Purdue's program, a la a Caleb Swanigan, Carsen Edwards or Jaden Ivey. I'm not comparing him to them as players, just the approach to Improvement.
Where his minutes come, we'll see, but they're gonna come somewhere, and he sure looks like a guy who Purdue can try to position to be a scorer in a variety of ways right now.
• William Berg is legit huge and another giant for Purdue who's really tall but also proportional. He runs well. He may be a little out of shape at the moment after prepping for the move across the ocean, but that's what summer's for. He's gonna need some refinement obviously, but again that's what summer — and maybe a redshirt — would be for.
• New walk-on Sam King isn't going to play for Purdue any time soon, but looks like a more-than-worthwhile freebie. Good size and seems kinda skilled. Hell, you probably could put him in a Northwestern uniform and he wouldn't look out of place.
• Thought Ethan Morton shot the ball well and looked kind of springy in dunking a bunch of times in drills.
• He didn't practice, but Camden Heide looks big, like all of 6-foot-6 big. Between him, Ethan Morton and Brian Waddell Purdue's got atypical size on the wing now, and that says nothing of the 6-5 Brandon Newman.
Standard reminder that if someone wasn't mentioned here, that doesn't mean they're terrible
Looking forward to seeing the other half of Purdue's team at some point. (BN)
PURDUE FOOTBALL RECRUITING
After this week's run of verbal commitments, we do anticipate Purdue also landing Kentucky defensive tackle Saadiq Clements, which would represent a clean sweep of this past weekend's slate of defensive line visitors and put Purdue on track for a really nice defensive line class.
With Clements, yes, Purdue would still have room for in-state targets Will Heldt, Kendrick Gilbert and/or Joshua Mickens, but one wouldn't think for the unfathomable scenario of all three. That's a moot point because Gilbert and Mickens are both going to be tough gets and Purdue still has to outlast Iowa for Heldt.
PURDUE FOOTBALL RECRUITING
Obviously there's still a long way to go here, but every indication has been that quarterback Rickie Collins is firm in his commitment to Purdue, even though he did just visit Florida State after Purdue, though. FSU does already have a quarterback committed and In this day and age, that's a hard thing to pull off, signing two of them.
But the quotes he gave the On3 network were emphatic and unlike anything a player who's still open-minded in recruiting would ever say out loud.
“I am committed and I am 100 percent committed to Purdue,” Collins told On3 after the Florida State visit. “By the end of this month, everybody will know. It’ll be set.”
His tone of social media has changed, as he's suddenly jumping in to congratulate subsequent Purdue commitments. (Hard to say he didn't do that before when there was only one commitment between him and this run.)
We are still trying to get a hold of Collins for a more substantive conversation about it, but it sure looks like he is solid with Purdue right now, which honestly is probably the biggest news Purdue could have hoped for in recruiting this summer.
Anyway, this sure looks promising for Purdue, which had to worried as hell this spring as the SEC went on a full-blown NIL shopping spree, for one thing. Our understanding is that Collins and his family aren't worried about NIL — everyone says that, though — and we do think Purdue is working to compete in this marketplace.
Football has made NIL discussion a prominent portion of their official visit itineraries. (BN)
PURDUE FOOTBALL RECRUITING
There are no official visits planned for this weekend. They'll pick back up next weekend with another hefty slate of prospects passing through town. (BN)
PURDUE BASKETBALL RECRUITING
So this weekend is the first open weekend as part of the evaluation for scholastic events, meaning stuff run by high school coaches, the NCAA's supposed answer to the AAU bogeyman after the wiretap scandal. (Because no high school coach has ever been corrupt, haha.)
The most notable event Matt Painter and likely some assistants will be at will be the IBCA Top 100 clinic at Brownsburg. Pretty much a who's-who of kids Purdue's recruiting In Indiana, including Xavier Booker, commit Myles Colvin, 2024 target Kanon Catchings and 2024 prospect Jack Benter and 2025 target Trent Sisley, among others.
Painter Is also expected to head north to Minnesota to see 2024 center target J.T Rock and Purdue will hit Georgia, as well, to see Gicarri Harris and Kentucky to see Travis Perry, 2023 center prospect Reece Potter and others.
