Road Trip: Purdue University

This weekend SoFLAfootball made a road trip to a relatively new face to the South Florida recruiting scene, Purdue University. The Boilermakers hosted Minnesota at Ross-Ade Stadium for their homecoming game Saturday. It was a somber homecoming for alumni as Purdue (2-5) could not get their offense in rhythm and fell to the Golden Gophers 17-6.

The Purdue campus is located in West Lafayette, Indiana approximately 60 miles northwest of Indianapolis. The town of West Lafayette is a classic college town, small and quaint with the university being the life blood of its citizens. The Purdue campus was in the midst of autumn as leafs on trees were turning colors and a chill was in the air, traditional football weather up north.

Purdue is a member of the Big Ten Conference and will be under the control of Danny Hope once current head coach Joe Tiller retires following the 2008 season. This spring Purdue really turned up the pressure on South Florida in search of prospects to fill out their recruiting class. Defensive end coach Terrell Williams was selected as the man responsible for scouting Palm Beach, Broward, and Dade Counties.

Coach Williams has been fairly successful early on in South Florida. At the game Saturday three athletes from the tri-county area were on official visits to Purdue, Northeast wide receiver Xavier Reese, Columbus wide receiver Gary Bush and Dr. Krop defensive tackle Brandon Taylor. Bush committed to the Boilermakers back in July, Taylor gave his commitment to the Boilermakers Sunday before flying home, and Reese has Purdue as his favorite for now. Coach Williams was also able to lure Taylor’s teammate middle linebacker Quan Fletcher, Monsignor Pace wide out Sterling Griffin, and Southwest Miami cornerback Chris Quinn (article HERE) up for a visit next weekend when Purdue hosts Michigan. Add Pompano linebacker Antwon Higgs and St. Thomas Aquinas tight end Gabe Holmes, both have already visited Purdue’s campus, to the mix and the Boilermakers are making a serious run for numerous South Florida prospects.

So what is it about Purdue that is piquing the interest of these Sunshine State athletes? First and foremost is the chance to get early playing time at a BCS school. The Boilermakers are hurting for play makers and sorely lack in the speed department on both sides of the ball, and these South Florida athletes certainly notice that. Reese, Bush, and Griffin certainly would improve the speed in the Boilermaker receiving corps and all would have a legitimate shot at earning playing time as true freshman. Holmes’ athleticism at tight end is something Purdue lacks now as well.

The inroads Purdue is making for the 2009 class is impressive, but the South Florida connections being made may lead to bigger and better things in 2010. As has been discussed many times on SoFLAfootball the 2010 class is an extremely deep class for talented football prospects. So deep, schools who usually struggle at landing high quality players from South Florida will certainly have an opportunity to snag some top notch athletes that schools like Florida, Florida State, Miami and South Florida will have to pass on.

A few key play makers can go a long way in turning the fortunes of a Big Ten team around. You only have to take a look at Purdue’s opponent Saturday, Minnesota, to see an example of this. Minnesota went 1-11 a year ago and gave up 42 points in a loss to FAU a year ago. The Golden Gophers are currently 7-1 on the season and sit in 4th place in the Big Ten.