Skip to main content
purdue logo

Purdue recruiting news and notes

On3 imageby:Tom Dienhart•03/17/25•

TomDienhart1

1 copy 20

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

PURDUE FOOTBALL

• North Alabama CB Ashaad Williams announced an offer from Purdue on social media this week. He’s a grad transfer with one year of eligibility. We reached out to see if Williams had set up a visit to West Lafayette. He told us: “I plan on it eventually.” The 6-2, 180-pound Williams already has set up a trip to Arkansas.

• Ryan Walters had size and speed requirements for each position. The current staff isn’t as rigid when it comes to a physical template for players. Rather, if a recruit can play, he can play … regardless of dimensions.

• The roster currently sits at 114. It must be at 105 by the first game of the season. Expect lots of fluctuation between now and then. It will be interesting to see how the roster is broken down by position. How many quarterbacks will be kept? Offensive linemen? Linebackers? Etc.

• C Gus Hartwig watched the last part of practice today. He’s staying in town working out as the NFL draft looms next month. He said he and fellow OL Marcus Mbow worked out for the Buffalo Bills this morning. Hartwig also said he had a recent Zoom with the Cardinals and has one coming up with the Lions. Mbow has a visit with the Eagles on March 18 and is confirming a trip to see the Giants, too.

PURDUE FOOTBALL RECRUITING

• Purdue welcomed four recruits today to its fifth spring practice:

2026 QB Jarin Mock, Reynoldsburg, Ohio/Pickerington North
2026 DT Jude Okeleke, Watertown, Conn./Taft School
2026 RB Mason Meister, Lafayette, Ind./Central Catholic
2028 QB Jack Quillen, Indianapolis/Warren Central

Mock has offers from Wisconsin, Miami (Ohio), Marshall, Central Michigan and UMass, in addition to Purdue.

Pitt, Syracuse, Minnesota, West Virginia, Duke, UConn have offered Okeleke. Purdue has not offered him or Meister or Quillen.

• Purdue welcomed a raft of visitors for its other four spring practices. And some offers have bubbled up from them:

-2027 DE Isaac Miller, Waukesha (Wisc.) Catholic Memorial
-2026 TE Tyler Ruxer, Lincoln City (Ind.) Heritage Hills

“Yeah, it was a great visit,” Ruxer told GoldandBlack.com of his recent trip to West Lafayette. “I’m blessed to receive an offer from a school like Purdue. I really enjoyed meeting all the coaching staff and it was awesome to experience the winning culture they are instilling. Definitely something I would want to be a part of!”

Ruxer subsequently set up an OV for June 6-8.

• Purdue is evaluating several QBs. One is 2027 Oscar Frye of Brownsburg (Ind.) High, who was on campus recently:

“I’ve been super impressed with the new coaching staff so far,” said Frye. “They have definitely left a great first couple of impressions on me. Practice was super organized and well run and they were able to get a lot in, in the minimal time that they had. Everybody, coaches and assistants, were all super nice and made the whole experience memorable.”

Barry Odom and 2026 TE Tyler Ruxer.

• On3 ranks the top 16 2026 recruits in Indiana. Among those whose “commit status” includes Purdue:

-ATH Jett Goldsberry, Lincoln City (Ind.) Heritage Hills
-CB Carson Eloms, Fishers (Ind.)
-DL Blake Smythe, Franklin (Ind.) Community
-S Deacon King, Westfield (Ind.)
-DL Kobe Cherry, Greenwood (Ind.) Center Grove


You may also like