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IMG Academy athlete Jack Wegher told us last night that he will visit Purdue as early as this weekend, but more likely next weekend, and will probably commit, he said.
"I'm really high on them right now," Wegher said. "I like them a lot. I like what they're doing and the academic side of it. I'm really excited to get up there and see what it's about."
Asked if he might commit on the visit, Wegher said, "Most definitely."
In a clear reflection of Purdue's desire to add speed on the offensive side - an area it kind of came up short on with the last class - it has targeted Wegher to play slot receiver. He claims to be a 4.4 sort of guy speed-wise, versatile enough to play running back, receiver or in the secondary. For IMG, he's mostly a running back, but is used in different ways.
"They said they want me to be like Julian Edelman with the Patriots," Wegher said.
Wegher will graduate in December and be a mid-year enrollee, which would serve as value-added.
Wegher said that he has spoken to Darrell Hazell, which is going to be our baseline in terms of trying to make sure offers are acceptable ones. Again, Wegher has spoken to the head coach, so we have to figure all is as it seems here. It's so difficult nowadays - harder and harder with every day that passes - to know when you don't have the ability to actually confirm on the university's end.
Anyway, Wegher is legitimate and almost certain, seems like, to be next on board for Purdue, joining Benaiah Franklin (http://sports.yahoo.com/purdue/football/recruiting/player-Benaiah-Franklin-177799) as receiver commits, though there's versatility to both of them.
Wegher does have a bunch of other offers, but Purdue remains his best one, with Connecticut probably being next biggest. Bowling Green offered him yesterday, to go along with a bunch of smaller schools.
Another angle here for Purdue: New IMG coach Kevin Wright knows it well from his days at Warren Central and Carmel and has been advocating Wegher to commit early. Whether that's a Purdue thing or simply a suggestion to lock up his scholarship, we don't know, but it's another force pushing Wegher toward an early Purdue commitment (BN)
Should his plan materialize, that would essentially make him another 2016 commit and mid-year enrollee.
Here are some thoughts from those Boilermaker basketball luminaries.
Hummel:
"I thought A.J. looked great coming back from John Lucas' camp down in Houston. I was honestly impressed with Ryan Cline, with the way he shot the ball but also that he played more off the dribble than I thought he would. I'd never seen him play before. Dakota shot it pretty well, P.J. was solid and I like the way Johnny Hill played. He played hard and I thought he was a good fit for Purdue. I think he can help this year, without question.
"Everybody played hard and played well. In open gym, you don't always see that, but it was a heated, spirited open gym."
(On Hammons' and Isaac Haas' development for the next level.)
"They have to be able to run the court and play pick-and-roll defense. That's a major deal. You see that so much and when you have a big guy who can't guard it, it exposes your whole team (in the NBA). … Then offensively, you just have to be solid. Both those guys have the capability to score with either hand and can build on that, but defensively, I think that's where (the adjustment) is really going to lie. And then playing hard. When you have a guy who's active - look at what Tristan Thompson did in the Finals just being a monster on the glass - it can really pay dividends for your team."
Johnson:
(On A.J. Hammons and Isaac Haas)
"They were really good. I'd say A.J. is a little more developed at this point, being a senior. He knows the game a little bit better, but Isaac's size alone, it's hard to defend. If he gets it in his mind to get underneath the basket and seal, no one in the nation can really do anything with that. I've never played against anyone with that kind of size outside of the NBA. I think he'll have a good opportunity to do some good things."
(On he and Hummel joking about the hypothetical of having Hammons or Haas against Connecticut that one year.)
"I always joke with the coaches that they've got all these big guys now and when I was here, I was playing center. But it's all good. Everything worked out and everything happens for a reason. I loved the time I had at Purdue and I'm looking forward to seeing what these guys could do."
Moore:
"I liked Dakota's game. The big fellas, you already know they're pretty good, but I liked Dakota. He played well, shot the ball well, made plays. He's one of the guys I liked from what I saw.
"He just played hard and seemed like a great teammate. You can always win with guys like that." (BN)
On the guilt he still feels about his injuries …
"It still pisses me off. It does make me mad. I really wanted to be able to do that. It would be such an awesome experience."
Hummel later said that beyond himself, he felt like Purdue, its coaches and fans "deserved better." (BN)
In the midst of talking about the secondary – part of an interview for our football preview magazine – the senior cornerback couldn’t help but gush about teammate Leroy Clark, a projected starting safety. Yet, he didn’t want to say too much.
“I’m going to leave that a secret,” Williams said.
Of course, we followed up: Clark’s good?
“Yeah, he’s going to be great, scary good,” Williams responded. “That’s just my opinion.
“He’s extremely fast, you just don’t see it yet. He makes a lot of <i>wow</i> plays, good ball skills. But you don’t hear anything because he’s always doing his job, so his man is never open.”
Clark moved to safety from cornerback in the spring, seeming to settle into a more natural position, where he had played during high school. During his first couple seasons as a corner, he never looked entirely comfortable and struggled with some technique, losing leverage and getting beaten; too frequently, he was the focus of ire from DB coach Taver Johnson.
But that lessened in the spring.
“I’m a lot more confident from playing corner, (now) going back to safety,” Clark said in the spring. “I feel a lot more natural at my position.” (KC)
That might be saying a lot. But the abilities of the pair could at least allow the Boilermakers to frequently play pressing man coverage on the outside.
“It’s definitely not going to be the same Purdue team that we had the past couple years. I want to get in your face as much as I can and he wants to get in your face, period, every play,” Williams said of Brown. “It could be fourth-and-30, he wants to pressure you. With that mindset, that mentality, that aggressiveness, that’s contagious; why lay back and play off if we can press them? And I think that helped us as a DB group, be aggressive with everything we do. No matter if you’re up by 30 or down by 30, be aggressive.” (KC)
Even if what Duane Carlisle has Purdue's football players engaged in during the afternoons is the most intense workouts he's put this group through yet. So much so Austin Appleby says he's struggling a bit to formulate a plan on when to schedule 7-on-7 work because everyone is "dog tired" and literally "can't even run" after experiencing such workouts.
But it's not just the amount and type of work players are doing that has Appleby, for one, encouraged about 2015. It has been the team's early response to it.
"The way this team is working is unlike anything I’ve ever seen or been around since I’ve been here," Appleby said Wednesday. "All that does is give you confidence. They are trying to make us the toughest, most hard-nosed, best-conditioned team in the Big Ten and in the country. That when the going gets tough, when it gets a little hot, that’s when we thrive. We’re going to develop that killer instinct. They’re trying to create the most uncomfortable situations and make it so hard on us that the only thing we can do is break or pull together as a team and attack it. The kind of guys we have in this program and on this team have pulled together and are attacking everything with championship-level mindset. Everything we do is Mach 3. The sense of urgency is we can’t miss a rep, we can’t miss a day, we can’t give one up. I’m so excited about the mindset of this team."
Some fans will be quick to dismiss any offseason work as important, considering there's seemingly nothing really at stake. It's not a Saturday with a victory hanging in the balance.
But it's all that the players can do right now, until September comes and they're afforded that next opportunity against an opponent.
It's the thought of getting more victories that is fueling the workouts.
"We hear what people say to us and we know. We’re with you. We want it to be better," Appleby said, shifting into talk-to-the-people mode. "We didn’t come here to not be a part of something special. Just like everybody who supports us wants to see a winner. My challenge would just be to trust in us, to trust in Coach Hazell, to get behind us and get everybody to be all-in. Everybody needs to get all aboard — that’s Coach Hazell’s motto for us, that’s the team’s motto. I would say to everybody who supports us as well, get all in. Let’s invest in this year, let’s invest in this team, let’s invest in being special like we’ve never done before because that’s what we’re doing as a team. Let’s fill Ross-Ade. Let’s be nuts. Let’s go back to those days where this place was one of the most hostile places in the country. It’s going to take absolutely all of us from head coach to assistants to players to support staff to trainers to fans, everybody.
"It’s been a long road from Year 1 to now, but when this thing flips — and it’s going to — it’s going to be truly something special and something everybody is going to be proud they were a part of." (SC)
This private scrimmage will take the place of an exhibition game and by rule will be a closed, unpublicized event. We don't know when and we don't know where, but the opponent is the most interesting part of it. (BN)
is the headliner prospect at Purdue's team camp today. Talked to him afterward and came away with little insight into his recruitment, but we have long said he doubt Purdue will be a big-time player there when all is said and done.
He's visiting Kentucky Saturday, he said, and if he gets offered by them, that is a game-changer. Otherwise Indiana is strong, Michigan State just offered and Xavier and Kansas have offered, too. Illinois has offered also.
And a lot can change in the span of the next year, too, that could impact his recruitment.
But Purdue has an up-hill battle on its hands there.
Another notable player at camp today is Peoria Manual 2017 point guard Da'Monte Williams, the son of former Illinois guard Frank Williams, not to be confused with aforementioned Purdue defensive back Frankie Williams. Da'Monte has an Illinois offer. Purdue is involved, not sure how much. (BN)
(He has not spoken to the head coach, though.)
It could get a visit from him in coming months. In the meantime, Purdue is also his biggest scholarship offer, looming over a list of more than a dozen smaller ones.
"I'd commit (early)," Hill said, "but my mom won't let me until probably later in the football season."
Again, it might not be a committable offer at this point, but it certainly stands as reason to believe he could be a guy Purdue would take at some point in the process.
Defensive end is going to be a need. (BN)
Purdue just offered big man Kaleb Wesson and forward Kyle Young and our guess is that forward Derek Culver isn't far behind.
Wesson is interesting a logical fit for what Purdue is doing in the post right now. He's massive - a potentially elite offensive line prospect if he played football, which there's a chance he might this season - but with soft hands and good feet and the ability to really score around the basket.
He'll be a very highly recruited player. He already has Ohio State, Iowa, Xavier and Dayton offers, if not more, but our information has any school that recruits older brother Andre Wesson, a 2016 wing, would have a really good chance to get both kids. Andre Wesson is supposed to be a legitimate prospect, Big Ten good, we don't know, but he'll get some attention from the Daytons and Xaviers of the world in this mix.
We don't know if Purdue has recruited Andre Wesson, but have no reason to think it has. Purdue would like a wing in that class but is pretty far along there and it would not be its MO to recruit for the potential package deal.
But Kaleb Wesson is definitely good.
So is Young.
When you look at the 2017 class, that might be a class where Purdue will want to find Vince Edwards' eventual replacement and Young - and Culver - would fit that mold.
Young is like a 6-6 guard-type stretch-4 who is smart and tough and can handle and shoot. He has 'Purdue' written all over him in terms of the kind of player Matt Painter likes, but also he's the kind of player a lot of people will like.
Xavier has already offered, because of course they have.
Also on the 2017 front, Purdue may be getting an unofficial visit soon from top guard target Nojel Eastern of Chicagoland, who Boilermaker coaches are going to battle for. Eastern is injured right now, but has been to campus at least once for elite camp. Can't remember if he visited during the season or not. (BN)
• We don't have much info on him at this point, but Purdue seems to want Columbus area offensive tackle Luke Campbell of Oletangy High School. Efforts to reach Campbell, who we think has MAC offers and Big Ten interest to this point, have been unsuccessfully, but remember the name.
• Purdue may take a "pro-style" quarterback now that Danny Etling has left and has maintained consistent interest in Maine's Austin McCrum.
Also, California's Andrew LaBruna just camped at Purdue and supposedly did very well.
We'll see. Either could commit on the spot if offered.
Quarterback recruiting cycles always unfold early, and in that sense, Purdue is behind, but it has been recruiting quarterbacks all along not knowing if it would take one or not.
It still may not, but Etling's departure makes it far more likely they will.
• Normally this would be our top note, but we don’t have enough info to make that big a deal of it, but Purdue is having two elite camps this weekend, one tomorrow night and the other Saturday morning.
Of note, Michigan safety Navon Mosley is visiting this weekend. We'd not rule out a commitment there.
Tight end Drew Schoeberl is camping Saturday, too. Big opportunity for him to impress. Purdue told him for months it was close to offering. Nothing has come of it, at least not yet.
Purdue is still in need of a kicker. Columbus' Mitchell Essex is among those who'll be at camp this weekend. Our guess is Purdue will wait for the entire camp season to come to a close before making a call on any particular leg.
• Told you last week that Purdue wide receiver target Trishton Jackson might blow up at Michigan State's camp and come off the board real quick. That's exactly what happened.
• DB Eli Walton is camping at Purdue this weekend and actually at Purdue right now with his Southport hoops team for team camp. He would have to be a safety if Purdue was going to offer him probably. He has great height at 6-3ish, but he's skinny as a rope right now. Good athlete. He has a bunch of MAC offers and they're all pushing him to commit before he gets a P5 offer. (BN)
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