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The number might still be a moving target, because Mitch West and Jylton Tusha might not be the last of the commitments Jeff Brohm inherited to go their own way. It remains to be seen whether opened-up former commitment Marcus Jones will remain a target, but he says Purdue is still a favorite for him.
But as it stands today, Purdue's at 15, as far as we know.
The mid-year signings T.J. Jallow, Ethan Smart and Kai Higgins are Brohm striking blows against obvious needs on next season's roster. He's likely not had much of a chance to diagnose his personnel too in-depth, but those are positions that jump off the page that need stability ASAP.
Look for Purdue to keep hammering away at the junior college ranks in January for transfers who'd enroll in the fall. Purdue has acted the part of a team in recruiting that is going to go junior college-heavy in this first class to try to overhaul a roster as quickly as it can short-term, while it gets its high school pipeline established. Look for wide receiver to come to the forefront in junior college recruiting come January, in particular.
That is an urgent need. C.J. Hayes will come in better prepared to play than most for a variety of reasons and Tyler Hamilton will get a leg-up by showing up in the spring, but at the end of the day, they're still freshmen and Purdue has maybe one guy coming back at wide receiver that you might even consider calling a known commodity: Gregory Phillips.
The need at that position borders on desperate, really. (BN)
Well, Purdue is well positioned for two players in particular.
We expect the Boilermakers to land Cincinnati four-star Jarell White, who's ranked as a running back, but was recruited by the outgoing staff as a safety. Not entirely sure what Brohm views him as and can't say for 100-percent certain his offer has been re-upped, but our guess is he'll be a take for Purdue when the time comes, and that time is probably going to be during the all-star circuit at the end of the month.
White has been to Purdue several times and may have wound up with the Boilermakers even if the old staff had remained in place, but the newfound stability at Purdue plus the enthusiasm around the program now would seem to strengthen its case even more.
Junior college safety Mykelti Williams, the Notre Dame bounce-back who was a Rivals250 member and four-star prospect out of Warren Central, is a prime Purdue target and a player they will have a great chance with.
Williams has been unavailable for comment the past few days, but did indicate to us that he's not a mid-year player. He would arrive in the fall. He'd be a significant get for Purdue because A) he's talented and B) he's a name. His name might carry some weight in Indianapolis, where Purdue simply needs to strengthen its brand and become a consideration for the best players again. It may not get them, but it has to at least start getting legitimate looks.
That said, we'd expect Purdue to launch a bit of an offensive in the state, giving those players who might be committed elsewhere at least an opportunity to say no, again, but make it harder on them to do so. Tom Allen's promotion at Indiana prevented open season on IU's commitments, but Purdue may try with a few of them anyway.
People will want to know about Boilermaker legacy Britt Beery at Carmel, who should have been offered by the last staff (in our assessment, at least) but is now committed to IU. Our understanding is Purdue would have to really persuade him, because he's pretty entrenched with the Hoosiers. IU assistant Mark Hagen carries a big stick at that school and did at Purdue, too, during his time with the program, before things got uncomfortable for him and he made a lateral move back to his alma mater years ago.
We know Purdue has at least paid some attention thus far to Indiana commitments Bryant Fitzgerald (DB) at Avon and LeShaun Minor (DT) at Ben Davis, where Tom Allen used to be the head coach.
Purdue's going to have to be aggressive in working other peoples' commitments. There's just no way around it this time of year, under these circumstances.
The dead period allows Brohm, JaMarcus Shephard and any others involved in recruiting at Purdue right now to hit the reset button and mobilize for a January push. Expect a whole bunch of new targets to emerge, some fluidity in the commitment list and a really busy winter for Brohm and whoever ends up on his staff. Purdue has to get situated in 2018 and beyond too.
Not easy. (BN)
A few years ago, as has been well-documented, Painter mandated that a shooter be signed in every class (within reason) and that led to this Dakota Mathias-Ryan Cline-Carsen Edwards series of signings that have really helped Purdue offensively.
Stefanovic would seem to fit right into that model, but things are tricky.
Purdue has a scholarship to give in the spring, one it would have used in the fall had it gotten somebody. That would have put it into oversign, which it would have been comfortable with because Purdue expects to lose Caleb Swanigan.
That open spot pretty much has to go to a big man. Junior college signee Eden Ewing probably isn't a center, and even though he's enrolling early, it might be a lot to ask of Matt Haarms to be a front-line contributor - in more ways than one - immediately.
It stands to reason to suggest that Purdue would need a more physical presence to give that player a better chance to compete right away, to fill in for some of the element it would lose without Swanigan, then have something in place for whenever Isaac Haas leaves. There are no guarantees that that A1 target is absolutely Jacob Epperson; he's just the guy everyone knows about right now.
Anyway, Stefanovic … Purdue wants him, but given the remaining need up front, Purdue might have to have an additional scholarship open up in order to get him in immediately for 2017.
That in mind, Purdue has broached the prep school option for 2018, but that is a lot to ask of a kid.
"That's not the ideal situation I want to be in," Stefanovic said, "and that's part of the reason, too, why I wanted to see how things played out this year to get there next year."
Stefanovic wants to be at Purdue, but this is not a player who doesn't have other good opportunities. He has a number of quality high mid-major offers, with the possibility remaining some other high-major opportunities surface in the spring, when everyone's recruiting gets super-sized by need and, to some extent, desperation. It's the yearly ritual.
We'll see what happens, but our sense is Purdue's mind is made up on Stefanovic and this is a P.J. Thompson situation where Purdue knew it wanted him long before it could actually offer him. People think Purdue offered Thompson only because Ronnie Johnson left; that was never reality. It wanted Thompson because he was the opposite of its point guards at the time and just what that team at that time needed. Time has sort of validated that.
Painter does want a shooter in every class. Unless it would count Aaron Wheeler as that guy, it would not seem to have its next man up in place as Mathias enters his senior year and Cline becomes an upperclassmen next season.
He does want a shooter in every class, but can't mortgage the frontcourt, either, so this is a bit of a sticky situation.
Matt Painter was in Indy on Saturday to see Romeo Langford (sure, why not?), Damezi Anderson and Keion Brooks at the Forum Credit Union Tip-Off at Southport. He will see 2017 center target Jacob Epperson and Tyger Campbell tonight while Purdue is also expected to have a coach up north to see Anderson again.
Painter had also been to Ohio to see targeted Pickerington prospects Jeremiah Francis and Jerome Hunter, who each have Purdue offers.
We spoke to Francis the other day and will have a story as soon as we can wrangle up a photo, but Purdue is in great shape there early and the 2019 recruit himself said he might want to make an early commitment, maybe within the next year. Painter sort of grew up with Francis' dad so there's a strong connection and level of trust there. One observer has called Francis the second-best point guard in the Midwest in his class, behind only Campbell, who might wind up in the class of 2018 before it's all said and done. Francis also has offers from West Virginia, TCU and others and interest early from a bevy of major programs. He's a teammate of North Carolina signee and former Purdue target Sterling Manley, so he's been seen.
Anderson is a 6-foot-5ish scoring wing who's really talented but has also been really hard to get on campus, not for a lack of desire, but simply logistical issues. He could be close to a Purdue offer, the tea leaves say, and if that happens, we're not sure what it would mean. Anderson seems under-recruited for his ability level and a Purdue offer would probably give him something to think about in terms of the possibility of a quick decision.
Another name to keep an eye on: Center Grove 2019 big man Trayce Jackson-Davis, Dale Davis' kid. He was good when we saw him at Purdue's team camp and Purdue has been keeping a close eye on him. It just had a coach at one of his games.
Purdue also saw Sasha Stefanovic earlier in the week and like we said, it wants him. It just needs room.
Back to 2018: Expect Purdue to get long-time target Robby Carmody on campus in January for an official visit. Purdue's not messing around on that one. It would love to move him out of the "lean" category and into the "commit" column. We don't have reason to believe Carmody has some attention toward deciding in/by spring, so not sure he'd commit in-season, but Purdue will try. (BN)
Thursday, Matt Painter discussed a situation that is genuinely Purdue backing into an absolute win-win situation for both team and player.
Haarms is "too old," Painter said, as the big man from Holland's in his second year out of what would be high school for him, so his eligibility clock is already running. Had he stayed in prep school and played this season, it would have counted against his four years of eligibility.
Instead, he sat out the first semester at Sunrise Christian in Kansas, and now will arrive at Purdue mid-year, and almost certainly use this season as a redshirt year. Take it back: Remove the "almost certainly" part of it. Purdue's just not going to burn a quarter of his career to play half a season as a physically undeveloped freshman in the Big Ten.
The importance lies in Haarms' ability to start practicing and to join Purdue's strength program. The 7-2, 225-pounder needs it.
"It'll really help him get ready, and we need him. We need him in practice. We're short on numbers."
That's the other part of it. With Jacquil Taylor out, Purdue has two true big men right now. Even with Taylor it would only have three.
Haarms won't stand much of a chance initially against Caleb Swanigan and Isaac Haas physically, but the experience will help him.
"And the experience of just going against Biggie and Isaac every day in practice and realizing it," Painter said. "Sometimes you can talk to guys about what they need to do. But when they can see it for themselves, it hits home a little more." (BN)
We know QB coach and co-coordinator Brian Brohm is coming and we know Greg Brohm is coming, as well, presumably in a support role. Two guys in particular to watch as well might be special teams coach (among other things) Tony Levin and running backs coach Chris Barclay.
Anyone else from that staff, including DC Nick Holt, would just be presumption on our part.
Most of Purdue's coaching staff under Darrell Hazell has moved out. As we've told you, the three guys who seemed to merit genuine consideration for retention were Gerad Parker, Taver Johnson and Marcus Freeman. Freeman has left for Cincinnati. So we'll see about the other two. Parker was present for the recruiting weekend this past weekend and has made school visits and stuff, but that doesn't mean his situation is resolved. He seems to be playing some sort of role as a bridge between staffs, at least. (staff)
No particulars to share yet, so in the meantime, just go ahead and plan on spending your whole day staring into your computer waiting for the show to appear.
Seriously, we'll let you know.
A replay will be posted afterward, reason to just continue staring into your monitor.
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