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It guarantees nothing obviously in terms of signing players but it is difficult to imagine Purdue having done a better job the past nine months or so in that regard.
It started with camps last June. So many of these 2019s being recruited now, they came to camp last summer, at a time when Jeff Brohm had only been on the job a couple months and hadn’t coached a game yet.
Among the many 2019 prospects who really matter now who were on campus in June for those camps — Jack Kiser, Bryce Kirtz, Wandale Robinson, Jahleel Billingsley, Cameron Williams and others.
Then, during the season, a slew of players who are now A1 targets for Purdue, including many of the state’s best players, came to games. Justin Britt, Kiser multiple times, Billingsley multiple times, etc. That says nothing of the out-of-state players who came.
Then, just for basketball games alone, the list this winter has been impressive, starting with Warren Central blue-chipper David Bell coming at first opportunity and Avon RB Sampson James coming twice, in addition to DB Larry Tracy, who Purdue seems to be a legitimate shot at, considering he decommitted from Iowa right after Purdue offered, quickly visited Purdue and hasn’t been back to Iowa, apparently.
It is very early still — though “early” is becoming a moving target — but every indication is that Purdue is well positioned to take its share of these A-list guys. Bell is going to be tough, but we believe Jeff Brohm’s offensive rep has his ear and he does have some Purdue people in his family. We’ve mentioned before too the hypothetical of some of the name brands maybe starting to look at him as a corner, which would help Purdue, which will be recruiting him as a receiver all the way.
Purdue’s not going to get Wandale Robinson, most likely, because of a good problem to have — it got Rondale Moore.
But JJ Weaver loves Purdue right now, loves it, and though that Miami offer might matter a whole lot for him, because it’s his childhood favorite. Purdue’s already landed one DL in this class who grew up a ‘Canes fan.
Louisville’s still there, and Georgia — who gets whoever it wants these days — offered, Purdue’s dug in and likely to be there long-term. Yesterday’s unofficial visit was his third visit, and he was booked as well for a basketball game in the winter that he couldn’t make when the time came.
In Indiana, we’d have to think Purdue is a leader for both Eli Pancol and Bryce Kirtz and we’d not write them off on David Bell even though he can go pretty much wherever he wants. It really, really, really matters to have an identity in recruiting, and Purdue has a very strong one right now offensively, and that is impacting recruiting for the better.
Justin Britt at Warren Central is getting offers left and right, but we do think he’s sort of a niche offensive lineman, a smaller but quicker guard and when push comes to shove, Purdue’s going to be there for him, but we’ll see who else is. And even if everyone is, Purdue may get him anyway. That’s how it looks at this point, anyway.
We could go on and on, but the point here is that Purdue is getting really important recruits on campus, they’re all gushing about their visits and it’s given the program some real momentum where it really matters.
Expect a big junior day event at the end of the month, as well, which should be eventful. (BN)
The iron could be hot this spring for Boilermaker assistant coaches Steve Lutz and Greg Gary should they choose to take swings at it, and there do appear to be jobs on the horizon that could be appealing.
Lutz’ background in Texas could make him a strong contender at Incarnate Word — he’s a former IW assistant and a San Antonion native — or UTEP, one would think, should he pursue either. He did come to Purdue with the ambition of it spring-boarding him to a head coaching job when the time would come, but may not take a bad job just to get a head coaching job. The two mentioned might be attractive enough, though.
Gary’s put in seven years at Purdue now, been part of a good deal of success and comes with an uncommon line on his résumé, that being head coaching experience that didn’t result in failure. He coached Centenary for two seasons, but left the program after the school decided to drop from Division I to Division III.
Jobs that come to mind on that front are ones that aren’t open. It remains to be seen whether Indiana State opens — Greg Lansing’s contract is apparently very coach-friendly — but if and when it does, Purdue guys will have an in, because A.D. Sherard Clinkscales is one himself and has a long-standing relationship with Matt Painter. That job might have been waiting for Jack Owens had Miami (Ohio) not gotten him first. But Gary, whose ties to the state run deep as well, would make sense there.
The other one might be Florida Gulf Coast should Joe Dooley move on or up, because Gary’s connections to Florida run pretty deep, too, after he coached at USF and Miami at times earlier in his career.
This is all premature, but could quickly become relevant once the season ends, whenever that may be. Purdue’s season ended last year on March 23; Owens was announced at Miami six days later.
There is a good chance, you’d think, that Purdue finds itself with an opening for the second year in a row, conceivably more than one.
Of course, an obvious name here as a potential hire would be Paul Lusk now that he’s been let go at Missouri State, should he want to return to Painter’s staff as an assistant coach. Lusk did enough at Missouri State to get seven years, which is a meaningful amount of time in a good conference, and had winning seasons the past two, so he might be positioned to land a head coaching job elsewhere.
On the former-players front, there’s probably no one who’s built up enough experience yet to be in line to join the staff — one season probably isn’t enough for Kenneth Lowe, for example — but Valparaiso’s David Ragland could be a coach who’d be looked at, also.
Ragland was part of a very successful four-year run at Indiana State under Lansing, who Painter knows well, but left for Bowling Green just in time for head coach Chris Jans to get fired. He landed at Valpo and has been part of some decent success there, also.
Obviously, it’s early on all this stuff, but it will come to the forefront whenever the season comes to a close. (BN)
The reality is that springtime moving and shaking could open up a whole new batch of players to recruit, between the usual transfer cycle and graduate-transfer emergences, but also whatever fallout might — might — come from college basketball’s current, um, issues. If players start asking out of letters of intent and whatnot, it will be a good time to have scholarships, which Purdue does.
As seasons end, grad transfers start coming to light and a few already have.
Purdue does need a point guard, and South Carolina-Upstate’s Mike Cunningham is a player Purdue may take a pass at, and Maine’s Aaron Calixte just came open as well, per ESPN.
More will come on the market eventually.
As you know, the point guard thing is sort of Purdue’s primary need in the spring, but as is, it looks more and more that maybe Carsen Edwards moves into a lead-guard sort of role, as a scoring point guard, and Purdue uses Nojel Eastern as sort of a utility man 1 through maybe even 4.
That is, assuming Carsen Edwards is back. He is getting some NBA buzz, and there is absolutely no reason he shouldn’t at least put his name in for the draft, but there wouldn’t seem like much compelling reason to think he’d jump now. You never know, of course, but it is hard to see him being a first-round pick right now, at his size without much true point guard experience in the books, that being the position he’ll have to play at the next level.
We do know he has a good, solid, level-headed support system around him and that would make him less likely to do anything impulsive, but you also wonder sometimes about the dynamic when so many others are leaving a team, what that means for a player who has to decide whether to come back or not. (BN)
