Welcome to this week's “BOILING OVER,” GoldandBlack.com’s weekly Ultimate Ticket information-clearinghouse and analysis column meant for our subscribers and our subscribers only.
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There's no word yet whether or not new Purdue signee Caleb Swanigan will take part in the Indiana All-Star series, which begins June 8 with the first of two junior all-star scrimmages.
The two junior games are June 8 and 10 at Richmond and Columbus North, respectively, followed by the two all-star games against Kentucky the following weekend.
Swanigan has try-outs for the USA Basketball 19U World Championships team in Colorado Springs beginning June 12, so theoretically the junior games are clear, but the actual Indiana All-Star games are not, and there's just no way a player can say no to USA Basketball. Whether USA Basketball could make accommodations for him - and we are awaiting a response from them on whether they might - we have no idea, but keep in mind, he is trying out for the team, so it's not like he is part of it already.
Indiana All-Stars director Charlie Hall told us this morning they are trying to work something out so that Swanigan might be able to participate in some form or another, but didn't offer any details and didn't seem to want to talk about it all that much. Not sure how much control the All-Stars would have over things though. We are assuming they'd want him to play in the junior exhibitions even if he can't play against Kentucky but can't say for sure and didn't have a chance to ask.
It might be USA Basketball then that would be needed to make a concession to allow Swanigan to wear his Mr. Basketball No. 1 jersey in competition, but again, Swanigan is trying out, so whether showing up two days into training camp would be in his best interests in wanting to make that team, we don't know. This Team USA stuff is a big deal to Swanigan, so he will not want to compromise it, we'd think.
It's difficult to say that missing the Indiana All-Star series would be unfortunate for both Swanigan and Purdue, because USA Basketball is as big a deal as it gets for players that age, but it would be a shame if he couldn't do both. (BN)
June is going to be a big, big month for Purdue's 2016 recruiting efforts, especially at point guard where it'll get a visit - whether it be official or unofficial - from Xavier Simpson, then an official visit at the end of the month from Carsen Edwards.
Purdue will recruit a bunch of point guards for that need, but as of now, these are the two realistic options who have Purdue offers, so obviously it'll be pivotal to make impactful impressions on them.
It's interesting, the two players Purdue has targeted since C.J. Walker opted out of his commitment, because Simpson and Edwards are very different players, Edwards being more of a scoring-minded combo guard and a better shooter and Simpson being more of that textbook sort of point guard.
The door may now be open a little more for Purdue with Simpson than it was just a matter of weeks ago, now that he's sort of come off the fast track to a Xavier commitment. It doesn't hurt at all, either, that the Boilermakers made a little bit of a splash by landing Swanigan. We're not aware of any connection between Simpson and Swanigan, but Simpson's dad seems to know everybody and Swanigan and Simpson have played on the Nike circuit. And remember that Swanigan used to be a member of the 2016 class, so it's very possible these guys' paths crossed somewhere.
Swanigan's commitment isn't going to have big fish automatically jumping in Purdue's boat, but it can't hurt, certainly, for Purdue to have gained the notoriety that came with his commitment. It grabbed some attention not only from players, but those around players, too, AAU coaches and the like.
We still think Simpson would be the best-case scenario for Purdue at point guard, because, quite honestly, he's straight out of central casting for what it needs at that position, not only from a playing-style perspective but from a makeup viewpoint. He seems like a rock-solid person with a really productive influence around him with his father, Quincey. Simpson's probably not going to be a high-volume type of shooter at the next level, and that would probably be a good situation for Purdue, given its projected post options and shooting weapons moving forward.
That's taking nothing away from Edwards, but we've seen him play three games so we can't claim to have the same familiarity with his ability to run a team. He can definitely score, though, and he can definitely shoot it.
Simpson could be a step toward Purdue getting Jarron Cumberland also.
The two have reportedly talked about the whole "package deal" thing, but if you follow recruiting closely, you know how that goes. Those things rarely materialize for one reason or another. But that doesn't mean the school that gets one won't have a bit of an edge with the other.
As of right now, the two players' most relevant common options are Purdue and Xavier. Simpson, we think, has been leaning toward X while Purdue was Cumberland's leader through the spring. Whether that will endure through the summer, time will tell, but the Boilermakers were in a great position with Cumberland as of the spring, but they'll now have to wait him out. We don't think a June official visit will happen on that front; he'll come through in the fall now that his planned springtime official visit was pushed back.
Don't be surprised either to see Joey Brunk line up a Purdue visit. He has already begun taking visits, going to Oklahoma a few weeks ago. (BN)
Purdue football needs a center in its 2016 class and it may now have a prime target identified and offered.
Missouri's Dylan Powell made an unofficial visit yesterday and netted an offer during the trip.
"I've been talking to Coach (Marcus) Freeman and Coach (Jim) Bridge for months now," Powell said last night, "so we planned a visit and went up there, leaving Hannibal (Mo.) here at about 4:45 a.m. and having a nice visit with them. It was a really great visit."
Powell said he didn't expect the offer, but thought it was possible.
"Coach Bridge had been telling me that I was definitely an offer guy for them," Powell said, "but they were just waiting on the head coach and that the head coach wanted me to come up so they could meet me and show me around campus and show me about what being a Boilermaker is all about."
Powell has a bunch of smaller offers already, but Purdue was his first major-conference invite, making it kind of a significant deal for the 6-3, 270-pound three-star lineman, who is also being recruited by other schools for guard.
"Coach Hazell said he's watched my tape like 15 times and he loves it," Powell said. "They see me as a center for them, but they think I can still play anywhere because of my athleticism. They said my grades are great and they see me being able to run an offensive line as the center."
Powell spoke very highly of the Purdue visit and you have to figure that as of now, the Boilermakers would have a real shot here, but recruiting may just be getting started for him.
Missouri, Indiana, Stanford, Georgia Tech, Kansas and Iowa are among those also interested.
Missouri will have him on campus for camp Friday, then Georgia Tech Sunday. Kansas and Wisconsin and maybe Stanford could get him in camp too.
This is definitely a guy to watch for Purdue, one of several now from Missouri, where the Boilermaker staff has put in some time this recruiting cycle. (BN)
Another new Purdue offer in a typically outside-the-mainstream state went out yesterday to Mississippi defensive end Jacques Turner, also his first Power Five conference offer.
Southern Miss, Louisiana Tech and Arkansas State were among those that were part of his first wave of offers. Memphis, Louisville and Ole Miss are among those also recruiting him.
"They've been looking at me for a while," Turner said, "and (Terry Malone) came down, then talked to my coaches and said they loved my film, so they offered me.
"They said I could make an impact coming in, because I'm very explosive off the ball and they think I can produce pretty well as a pass-rusher."
Turner is also being recruited by some schools as an outside linebacker.
What's kind of interesting here is that Malone, formerly of the New Orleans Saints staff, is doing some recruiting in the Deep South, a territory Purdue usually doesn't do a whole lot with as a priority territory.
Maybe Malone has connections down there or Purdue figures his name can carry some weight down there, but there are lots of athletes down there as long as a program recruits the right ones. (BN)
Purdue's camps begin next weekend, so that can make for some interesting developments. With a tight scholarship number, though, its staff may be less likely to throw down a lot of post-camp offers, especially quick ones. We'll see.
One of the big days will be the kicking camp June 9.
Purdue needs a kicker. The best guy that day may get the scholarship. (BN)
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Copyright, Boilers, Inc. 2015. All Rights Reserved. Reproducing or using editorial or graphical content, in whole or in part, without permission, is strictly prohibited.
We appreciate everyone’s cooperation in helping us keep what is sometimes delicate information confined to this message board.
We certainly don’t want it to come to this, but if there are problems, subscriptions have and will be canceled over this.
We know there are a lot of blogs out there and a lot of you are on Twitter and other message boards, and we don’t want to come off like Darth Vader here, but we would be doing all our subscribers a disservice if weren’t proactive about protecting the value of their subscription. Thanks in advance for your cooperation.
Additionally, we address recruiting 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. So again, we appreciate everyone's cooperation very much.
The two junior games are June 8 and 10 at Richmond and Columbus North, respectively, followed by the two all-star games against Kentucky the following weekend.
Swanigan has try-outs for the USA Basketball 19U World Championships team in Colorado Springs beginning June 12, so theoretically the junior games are clear, but the actual Indiana All-Star games are not, and there's just no way a player can say no to USA Basketball. Whether USA Basketball could make accommodations for him - and we are awaiting a response from them on whether they might - we have no idea, but keep in mind, he is trying out for the team, so it's not like he is part of it already.
Indiana All-Stars director Charlie Hall told us this morning they are trying to work something out so that Swanigan might be able to participate in some form or another, but didn't offer any details and didn't seem to want to talk about it all that much. Not sure how much control the All-Stars would have over things though. We are assuming they'd want him to play in the junior exhibitions even if he can't play against Kentucky but can't say for sure and didn't have a chance to ask.
It might be USA Basketball then that would be needed to make a concession to allow Swanigan to wear his Mr. Basketball No. 1 jersey in competition, but again, Swanigan is trying out, so whether showing up two days into training camp would be in his best interests in wanting to make that team, we don't know. This Team USA stuff is a big deal to Swanigan, so he will not want to compromise it, we'd think.
It's difficult to say that missing the Indiana All-Star series would be unfortunate for both Swanigan and Purdue, because USA Basketball is as big a deal as it gets for players that age, but it would be a shame if he couldn't do both. (BN)
Purdue will recruit a bunch of point guards for that need, but as of now, these are the two realistic options who have Purdue offers, so obviously it'll be pivotal to make impactful impressions on them.
It's interesting, the two players Purdue has targeted since C.J. Walker opted out of his commitment, because Simpson and Edwards are very different players, Edwards being more of a scoring-minded combo guard and a better shooter and Simpson being more of that textbook sort of point guard.
The door may now be open a little more for Purdue with Simpson than it was just a matter of weeks ago, now that he's sort of come off the fast track to a Xavier commitment. It doesn't hurt at all, either, that the Boilermakers made a little bit of a splash by landing Swanigan. We're not aware of any connection between Simpson and Swanigan, but Simpson's dad seems to know everybody and Swanigan and Simpson have played on the Nike circuit. And remember that Swanigan used to be a member of the 2016 class, so it's very possible these guys' paths crossed somewhere.
Swanigan's commitment isn't going to have big fish automatically jumping in Purdue's boat, but it can't hurt, certainly, for Purdue to have gained the notoriety that came with his commitment. It grabbed some attention not only from players, but those around players, too, AAU coaches and the like.
We still think Simpson would be the best-case scenario for Purdue at point guard, because, quite honestly, he's straight out of central casting for what it needs at that position, not only from a playing-style perspective but from a makeup viewpoint. He seems like a rock-solid person with a really productive influence around him with his father, Quincey. Simpson's probably not going to be a high-volume type of shooter at the next level, and that would probably be a good situation for Purdue, given its projected post options and shooting weapons moving forward.
That's taking nothing away from Edwards, but we've seen him play three games so we can't claim to have the same familiarity with his ability to run a team. He can definitely score, though, and he can definitely shoot it.
Simpson could be a step toward Purdue getting Jarron Cumberland also.
The two have reportedly talked about the whole "package deal" thing, but if you follow recruiting closely, you know how that goes. Those things rarely materialize for one reason or another. But that doesn't mean the school that gets one won't have a bit of an edge with the other.
As of right now, the two players' most relevant common options are Purdue and Xavier. Simpson, we think, has been leaning toward X while Purdue was Cumberland's leader through the spring. Whether that will endure through the summer, time will tell, but the Boilermakers were in a great position with Cumberland as of the spring, but they'll now have to wait him out. We don't think a June official visit will happen on that front; he'll come through in the fall now that his planned springtime official visit was pushed back.
Don't be surprised either to see Joey Brunk line up a Purdue visit. He has already begun taking visits, going to Oklahoma a few weeks ago. (BN)
Missouri's Dylan Powell made an unofficial visit yesterday and netted an offer during the trip.
"I've been talking to Coach (Marcus) Freeman and Coach (Jim) Bridge for months now," Powell said last night, "so we planned a visit and went up there, leaving Hannibal (Mo.) here at about 4:45 a.m. and having a nice visit with them. It was a really great visit."
Powell said he didn't expect the offer, but thought it was possible.
"Coach Bridge had been telling me that I was definitely an offer guy for them," Powell said, "but they were just waiting on the head coach and that the head coach wanted me to come up so they could meet me and show me around campus and show me about what being a Boilermaker is all about."
Powell has a bunch of smaller offers already, but Purdue was his first major-conference invite, making it kind of a significant deal for the 6-3, 270-pound three-star lineman, who is also being recruited by other schools for guard.
"Coach Hazell said he's watched my tape like 15 times and he loves it," Powell said. "They see me as a center for them, but they think I can still play anywhere because of my athleticism. They said my grades are great and they see me being able to run an offensive line as the center."
Powell spoke very highly of the Purdue visit and you have to figure that as of now, the Boilermakers would have a real shot here, but recruiting may just be getting started for him.
Missouri, Indiana, Stanford, Georgia Tech, Kansas and Iowa are among those also interested.
Missouri will have him on campus for camp Friday, then Georgia Tech Sunday. Kansas and Wisconsin and maybe Stanford could get him in camp too.
This is definitely a guy to watch for Purdue, one of several now from Missouri, where the Boilermaker staff has put in some time this recruiting cycle. (BN)
Southern Miss, Louisiana Tech and Arkansas State were among those that were part of his first wave of offers. Memphis, Louisville and Ole Miss are among those also recruiting him.
"They've been looking at me for a while," Turner said, "and (Terry Malone) came down, then talked to my coaches and said they loved my film, so they offered me.
"They said I could make an impact coming in, because I'm very explosive off the ball and they think I can produce pretty well as a pass-rusher."
Turner is also being recruited by some schools as an outside linebacker.
What's kind of interesting here is that Malone, formerly of the New Orleans Saints staff, is doing some recruiting in the Deep South, a territory Purdue usually doesn't do a whole lot with as a priority territory.
Maybe Malone has connections down there or Purdue figures his name can carry some weight down there, but there are lots of athletes down there as long as a program recruits the right ones. (BN)
One of the big days will be the kicking camp June 9.
Purdue needs a kicker. The best guy that day may get the scholarship. (BN)
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Copyright, Boilers, Inc. 2015. All Rights Reserved. Reproducing or using editorial or graphical content, in whole or in part, without permission, is strictly prohibited.
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