Purdue recruiting news and notes

Welcome to Recruiting News and Notes. GoldandBlack’s weekly information clearinghouse, a spot for assorted bits of Purdue news, analysis and so on.

PURDUE RECRUITING

• Purdue continues to welcome recruits to spring practices, which began on Tuesday. A large group is expected on Saturday.

• Who could be the next commitments? If we had to guess, it could be OL Brock Brownfield or ATH Jett Goldsberry, who recently got a fourth star from On3. Still, neither appears to be in a hurry to pledge anywhere.

PURDUE FOOTBALL

• Gus Hartwig watched the first spring practice. His thoughts on how things operated?

“You can see that everything had an intent. They were flying around. They were moving even just in helmets … the speed between drills and everything was really efficient and fast, which was cool to see.”

• Former Purdue safeties coach Grant O’Brien has landed as an analyst at Northwestern.

• Purdue held its pro day on Wednesday. We caught up with an NFL scout to get his thoughts on the four Boilermakers most likely to get selected.

OL Marcus Mbow
“He’s a talented, athletic tackle. He’s got range in feet. He played well against some of the best competition It will be interesting to see where he ends up on different people’s boards. Senior Bowl was a little up and down, but overall, he’s a talented dude. It will be interesting to see where he ends up. I can see why people say that (Top 100 pick) off the talent. I don’t think he wanted to come back. So regardless he was coming out, regardless of where he where he goes.”

OL Gus Hartwig
“I talked to a few people about him. I was hoping that the all-star game he would have been able to play a little more guard. I believe he played all snaps at center. Would have been good to see him play some guard, because obviously, when you’re in the league, to have the make-it value, stick value in my opinion, for interior guys, you got to play both, and the more you can do, the better.

“For guys that are 6-5, the question is: Can you play guard? Yes or no? Most guards or tackles, (the question is) have you ever snapped? And you’re always asking those o-line coaches, hey, has this guy snapped in practice? Is he the backup center? Is he the emergency center? Because, on the pro side, that’s what we deal with on a regular basis. You have an injury to a position, you’re thinking, OK, worst case scenario this week, our backup is down, who’s our backup center, then who’s our emergency center if both get hurt? That’s how we always look at the roster. It’s really hard to take a center only, or a guard only, unless you just have that big of a hole and that big of a need.

“He could (get drafted). I mean, obviously going to the all star … I mean, both those guys go to the All Star game always helps.there was enough people that said, Yes, we need to see them, and then the guys going to the combine, those are two big, in my opinion, big boxes that need to be checked in general.”

LB Kydran Jenkins
“Switched back and forth between positions. They tried to play a little more (linebacker). I think that was a good move by him trying to play (linebacker), understanding what plays at the next level. But some of his best tape was at the line of scrimmage. He’s gonna have to find a team that will use them in that outside ‘backer, Sam role, kind of like the Barnes kid that came from Purdue that Detroit uses. That’s the kind of fit that he is

“The tape at the line of scrimmage is much better, in my opinion, than off the ball. But it was a transition, right? So there’s going to be a little bit of time with that. He would have to be an undersized ‘backer.”

QB Hudson Card
“I think he’s got a shot to sign as a PFA. Will be an outside shot that you’d have to ask him if he ever goes on the top 30 visits. I think there is some arm talent and athleticism there. You just wish you would have taken the next step in the offense in Year 2, and the offense in general just kind of kind of sputtered.”

(TD)

PURDUE BASKETBALL RECRUITING

• Multiple indications are that things haven’t really changed all that much with Purdue priority Trey Thompson, that the Boilermakers are still really strong with him. He didn’t commit early as he seemed bound to, but it sounds like he is listening to Tennessee and building relationships there as opposed to the Vols having completely turned this up-side down.

Purdue did get way out in front on Thompson at a time when fewer and fewer schools are dedicating early work to underclassmen, and that mattered and still will. Purdue is not going to waver in its prioritization here. It’s a pretty safe assumption that Tennessee is going to be very active rebuilding its teams through the portal each year, so who knows how much their recruiting picture will change in coming months.

Our comp for Thompson is UCLA’s Tyler Bilodeau, a skilled inside-out big with a really high motor.

We do expect Purdue to take two bigs in 2026, but that could conceivably change as it looks to add a center/size in the portal this spring. If that ends up being a multi-year player, then that could ostensibly be a 2026-relevant recruit.

Matt Painter went to Tennessee again on Saturday to see Thompson. It’s at least the third time he’s been down there since fall. When you take into account the congestion in these Big Ten schedules nowadays, in-season recruiting is a bit more challenging, so Painter’s efforts there speak volumes.

• The landscape of Purdue’s long-time interest in South Bend’s Steven Reynolds III may be about to change, as our expectation is that the women’s basketball program and the Reynolds family are about to essentially part ways after a really tough season, so whatever advantage it might have been that Reynolds’ sisters were here will be off the table.

Whether the men’s program keeps after Steven III remains to be seen.

• Purdue did have 2026 four-star Brandon Bass Jr. for a quick official visit for the Rutgers game, at which time Brandon Sr. got to spend a bit of time with former NBA teammate E’Twaun Moore.

Really early on Bass but the draw to Purdue simply seems to be the usual: That Purdue put a good deal of early time in on him, and the Final Four and these good guards it’s had lately have probably given it a bit more cred with some of these national types than it may have had years back. The money issue may get blunted somewhat by revenue sharing and it has to be kept in mind that that might not be the No. 1 (or even 2 or 3) issue for every recruit.

Purdue is not even talking about money with recruits, we don’t think, until April after things presumably pass. (BN)

PURDUE BASKETBALL

• Fletcher Loyer is perfectly fine, it appears, after whatever that was that happened to him vs. Rutgers. He’s practicing today, as is everyone else.

• It has been pretty apparent that Purdue’s coaching staff has been pushing Caleb Furst more as a senior than ever before. In prior years, they had so many frontcourt guys and Furst is such a nice, happy dude that coaches might have let some things slide earlier in his career and allowed him to float, especially after Zach Edey suffocated Furst on the depth chart.

After Purdue won at Washington, Furst specifically mentioned Paul Lusk getting after him.

It was just last week that the veteran assistant coach told Furst, “It’s non-negotiable, you have to get us six to eight (rebounds) a game, at bare minimum.”

“I’ve always had a good relationship with him, but I’m on him about everything,” Lusk said. “Not in a demeaning way. He needs it. He likes it. … He has to (rebound). It’s so important to this team.” (BN)