Odom talks portal and recruiting
While portal recruiting continues to become a key part of building a roster, high school prospects remain a foundational aspect. New Purdue coach Barry Odom gets it. He has a plan. And it starts at home.
“I think number one, we have to do a great job with developing relationships with the high school coaches in our state and surrounding area,” said Odom. “That’s so important. I want them to come and see us, to visit us, meetings, practice. It’s open door because I want them to see if they send a kid to us how the kids going to be coached, the atmosphere, the environment, the culture that we have. So, we’ll start there, foundationally, that’s what it’s going to be.”
Purdue signed six 2025 players last Wednesday, with three of those being in-state recruits: RB Jaron Thomas of Concord High in Elkhart; DE Landon Brooks of Delta High in Muncie and LB Sam Steward of Homestead High in Fort Wayne.
And several key players on the 2024 Purdue squad were in-state products, including players like RB Devin Mockobee (Boonville), C Gus Hartwig (Zionsville), WR Jaron Tibbs (Indianapolis), DE Will Heldt (Carmel) and S Dillon Thieneman (Westfield). No doubt, Indiana produced players typically are foundational members of Boilermaker squads.
Odom has deep roots in the Midlands and Midswest. He was born and raised in Oklahoma. He played and coached in Missouri for years, while also working in Tennessee and Arkansas. Most recently, he was in Nevada.
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“We’ll branch out,” said Odom. “I think we can attract student-athletes from all over the country. The relationships that I’ve got do go from East Coast to West Coast.”
His most recent class at UNLV signed last week had players hailing from California, Arizona, Washington, Texas, Missouri, New York and Arkansas along with three JC players. In six years as a head coach–and over 20 in the college profession–Odom has forged a lot of friendships.
“They’ve been in the business now 25 years,” he said. “You have meaningful relationships across the country, and anytime that you can attract someone to the things that we have here, we will cast a wide net to get the greatest players we can here to fit the culture of Purdue University.”
MORE: Gold and Black Radio: Odom hired | Photo gallery: Odom press conference | Five observations from Odom’s press conference | Can Purdue flip any 2025 UNLV signees? | Purdue hires Odom | Get to know Odom | Three thoughts from the weekend| Q&A with Las Vegas AP writer | Purdue signing day notebook | Purdue 2025 schedule
