Express News and notes: Purdue football Team Camp
The busses rolled in to West Lafayette from places like Belleville, Ill., Terre Haute, Ind., Indianapolis and Kankakee, Ill., carrying high school football players from 12 schools for a one-day Purdue Team Camp.
It was the fourth camp of June for the Boilermaker staff, which has held a Specialists Camp and two Prospect Camps. One more camp looms: a Prospect Camp on June 19.
What did we learn today?
• 12 schools took part, nine from Indiana and three from Illinois:
-Ben Davis
-McCutcheon
-West Lafayette
-Terre Haute North
-Rushville
-North Vermillion
-Danville
-Eastern Greentown
-Cardinal Ritter (Ind.)
-Kankakee (Ill.)
–Belleville West (Ill.)
-Dyett (Ill.)
Last year, Purdue had half that many schools at its Team Camp.
• Players wore helmets and shoulder pads, battling in situational aspects like “inside run.” Squads faced off in Ross-Ade Stadium, Mollenkopf Athletic Center and Bimel Practice Complex on a warm day.
• Ted Ginn, Sr., and his renown Glenville (Ohio) bus tour stopped by. According to Ginn, it was the first time he has made a stop in West Lafayette since the Darrell Hazell era. Glenville annually produces some top talent.
Glenville was not part of the camp, but its players could still be worked out. Purdue CB coach Sam Carter and safeties coach Grant O’Brien put players through the paces. The one gem prospect is 2026 LB Cincere Johnson, a four-star prospect with offers from the likes of Notre Dame, Michigan State, Cincinnati and Kentucky, among others. Purdue offered today. Ohio State is also sniffing around.
• The Team Camp isn’t about recruiting, though some player evaluations take place. On that end, Purdue kept an eye on 2026 Ben Davis DB Robert Reddick, a long, lean athlete with a Boilermaker offer. And Purdue is keeping an eye on 2026 Ben Davis LB Caleb Scott, who has Duke and Western Michigan offers. Ben Davis also brought two committed players: DB Mark Zackery (Notre Dame) and DL Isaiah White (Illinois). Purdue pushed hard for Zackery, while it did not pursue White.
• A big benefit of Team Camp for Purdue is developing relationships with various staffs and helping impart knowledge. Plus, there’s a benefit to having so many young men on campus who can talk about their experience at Purdue when they return home.
• Purdue’s Prospect Camp next Wednesday will be its biggest camp with nearly 200 players. And the camp will feature the best collection of talent yet. Among the talent on hand will be Purdue’s top two safety targets in 2026: Lewis Center (Ohio) Olentangy’s Kaden Gebhardt and Detroit Divine Child’s Marcello Vitti.
• The Tiller Tunnel has been painted gray, gold and white with “Boiler Up,” “Hammer Down” and “Competitive, Tough, Disciplined” written on the walls. It takes roughly 90 seconds to walk the length of the tunnel (see video).
