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We'll preface this by saying that info is going to be hard to come by on this one, but we do know that Purdue is not just dabbling here. Purdue's taking him if he wants to come. That would then occupy the not-yet-vacated one scholarship Purdue has been recruiting for long-term and bring Wetzell into the program to sit out this season, then have two seasons of eligibility left.
The only other school in the running for the highly skilled big man that we are aware of is Vanderbilt. There are almost certainly more involved and maybe more to come now that his name has escaped the theoretical security of this message board.
The appeal in Wetzell is fairly evident. He's a highly skilled big man who's really fluid athletically and seems athletic for his position. He can shoot threes and dribble and the fact he's only played basketball for essentially two years now screams significant upside, particularly in a situation where he has to redshirt.
Again, his background in basketball is very limited, but in those two seasons at St. Mary's University - and yes, it's D2 competition - he's been very, very productive. (BN)
(We'd cover it, but we were denied credentials in what might have been another case of blogger confusion for all we know. Anyway, we'll figure something out.)
The dynamic from last year has changed and this isn't about going if there's any reasonable basis for doing so, like it was last year at this time.
Now, it's not about getting drafted, period, but about draft position.
And that fact has left this door open, however shut it might have seemed - or actually been - for the better part of a year.
This draft is a considered a loaded one, and so though this seems like Swanigan's time to strike while the iron is hot coming off an All-America season, his first-round standing is very much up in the air, really for reasons outside his control. This is a stacked draft, those who know it suggest. Next year, maybe not so much.
Internet rankings don't matter. But they're a starting point. With that in mind, Draft Express - the best of the sites, in a lot of peoples' assessments - currently has Swanigan going 30th to the Jazz.
But there's a long way to go here and you don't know what youngsters or Euros are going to the flavor of the next month.
It is still most likely that Swanigan leaves. We want to make that clear. If he does leave, don't accuse of manufacturing a horserace here or being wrong the whole past year on this year.
But like we said last week, the option to return is on the table, more so than most figured it would be, and if a decision is made off draft stock, then there might only be so much Swanigan can do the next few weeks to secure as clear a picture for himself as possible.
Remember, any underclassman who returns has to make that decision based on the information he has as of May 24, not the day before the draft.
As for Purdue's other NBA dabblers, not to dismiss them, but it is just highly unlikely either of them depart early.
Vincent Edwards was not invited to the combine to our knowledge and Isaac Haas was notified he was still under consideration and could be brought up as an alternate, in part a way for the NBA folks to assure they'll have enough bodies to fill all the five-on-five teams, since many players will opt not to play, including Swanigan. (BN)
The 6-foot-5, 220-some-pound Illinois athlete was offered last week, as either a tight end or defensive end. Purdue said if he wound up there, they'd just figure it out when he got there.
"I could definitely see myself playing at Purdue," Cravaack said earlier in the weekend. "It has everything I'm looking for academically and athletically."
Cravaack has a Wake Forest offer, most of the MAC and some Ivy League schools.
He visited Purdue last spring, when the old staff was in place.
He'll visit again this summer.
June might be interesting, because Purdue will be having a lot of these offered players come through and by then maybe a clearer picture of its priority board. And, camps.
We'd be surprised if Purdue didn't start landing commits next month, maybe a bunch.
"They said I would be a good fit there," McKenna said over text message a while back, "because I'm the kind of offensive linemen they're looking for and I'd have the ability to play a lot for a program on the rise."
Electronic interviews are the worst, so it was hard to glean much from that, but we have reason to think Purdue is very much in contention for McKenna but also know the Pitt end of this seems pretty confident. (BN)
When Purdue offered Cole Swider last week it did so probably just to see if it stuck, then didn't spend time watching him this weekend. It was chopped yesterday, as Swider cut things down to eight.
Some of this week's offers - Louis King, Immanuel Bates, Kaden Archie and Jaelin Llewellyn - are probably of that same variety. Some, like King, certainly are. The others, Purdue might be able to get in the mix for.
As for Marcus Bingham and Trevion Williams, they're gonna be guys Purdue puts resources into recruiting.
Bingham has gone nuclear. Since the weekend, he's been offered by Purdue, Xavier, Butler, Missouri, Michigan State and others. That might be trending toward another case where Purdue is first on a kid before he blows up, then he blows up and everything changes.
Williams is going to be a tough pull if Michigan State really wants him, but the Caleb Swanigan draw seems very real there, and Michigan State can't take Brandon Johns, Bingham and Williams most likely, so somebody's probably headed out of state.
More offers are going to come. Seems like Purdue is making a concerted effort to put a lot of balls in the air here. It's going to be a big class in which Purdue will need a little of everything, so expect this to be a very active summer.
Some very quick blurbs on recruiting, since we're under a time crunch today and can't flush things out as much as we'd like.
• I don't know what the deal is with Purdue and Florida point guard Neftali Alvarez. He has an offer, has for a long time, but I didn't see Purdue putting a lot of time into watching him this past weekend.
When we talked to him afterward, through a translator, he just said of Purdue basically, "top five," in terms of where Purdue stands with him.
• Purdue is most likely going to be a real player for both Oklahoma guard Keyshawn Embery and African big man Emmanuel Dowuona.
Again, we didn't want to take Dowuona too literally because of a modest way-of-speaking barrier and his unfamiliarity with recruiting, but when he talked about visiting Purdue this summer and deciding whether or not to go there, that sounded like serious interest. We're not aware of any pull toward another school that would matter for him, unless there's any pro-Hurricanes sentiment around him in Miami. He did talk about academics more than most basketball recruits do.
Steve Lutz clearly makes Purdue an overnight player for Embery, who people tell us has been really high on Creighton through the process thus far.
• Don't know how interested Purdue is in LaLumiere big man Franklin Agunanne but he's one of a lot of bigs it's watching. Not sure he can score, but he looks the part. Looks like an NFL defensive end. Haven't gone back and listened to our interview, but he's very open to being recruited by Purdue. He figures to get solid offers off his body alone.
Creighton, Tulsa, TCU and Oklahoma State are among those interested. He said that SMU and Tulsa have offered and said all he knows about Purdue is that Steve Lutz is there.
• Purdue is watching combo New York forward Isaiah Moll, a big-bodied 6-foot-6ish positionless sort of player. Only saw him briefly this weekend and would liked to have seen him shoot, but he's active, multi-skilled, athletic and physically mature.
He only has Albany and Siena offers right now, but Purdue, Iowa and Xavier called him after the first April evaluation weekend.
Just a name to file away …
• Watch out for shooting guard Duane Washington of Grand Rapids, a teammate of Xavier Tillman last year. The 2-guard was really good in Indy and had been drawing a good deal of interest from Purdue prior. He has only mid-major offers to this point and Purdue would be a big one for him. They're trying to get him to visit, he said.
Great shooter with good size and drive a little bit too.
• This week's news of DePaul hiring LaLumiere's coach and reportedly trying to hire one of Meanstreets' coaches shouldn't have any bearing on Damezi Anderson, who never committed to play at LaLumiere and may not have even had the opportunity to. And, he's only been with Meanstreets this spring and summer, so it's not like there's much sway the coach there should have should he end up at DePaul.
The LaLumiere thing is interesting. With the turnover there coupled with Lutz's connections there, there might be a bit of an opportunity for that to become a friendlier place for Purdue. Not that it's been unfriendly, per se, before, but maybe it can be more friendly now.
• Stay tuned all weekend for coverage from Spiece, which is loaded with Purdue prospects and targets.
