Purdue recruiting news and notes

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

PURDUE FOOTBALL

• What’s the latest on legacy 2025 OL recruit Cameron Gorin? Purdue head coach Barry Odom and OL coach Vance Vice stopped by to visit Gorin this week. It was the first time he could meet Vice. Not certain where Gorin will sign yet, but he will do so with some school on February 5th. He is still deciding and wants to get all the information first before making a definitive decision.

• Which of Purdue’s December signees are getting here in January? DE Landon Brooks and RB Ziaire Stevens. The 2025 recruits Odom flipped from UNLV will be here. Those Rebels: DE Mason Alnutt, S Antonio “Juju” Parker, S Vi’Naz Cobb, TE Jon Grimmett, LB Parker Meese and QB Garyt Odom.

PURDUE FOOTBALL

• Purdue will gather for a team meeting on Sunday at 7 p.m., the day before spring semester classes commence. Things will get more real then, with all the portal transfers in West Lafayette.

• Purdue has added a stupefying 27 players from the portal. I believe the staff is still trying to add at least 4-5 more. Again, the spring semester starts on Monday. So, the clocking is ticking to get players here to take part in spring drills.

Players in the portal can commit to Purdue at anytime, but they wouldn’t be able to enroll until after spring semester if they aren’t here soon. There is another portal window from April 16-25. No doubt, Purdue will see players jump in then. And it likely will add some players, too. This roster is far from complete.

What positions are still on the shopping list?

-Couple DLs
-Couple DBs
-Maybe an OL

Purdue probably needs d-ends more than d-tackles. DT Terry Webb of Texas State is supposed to be here this weekend.

• The next portal commit? Fingers are crossed that Colgate LB Cole Kozlowski takes the plunge.

MORE: Who jumped in the portal for Purdue? | Who is coming from the portal?

• Purdue has already landed seven players from UNLV. How many more will it gain from Odom’s former school? It may be done. The only likely addition left is WR Jacob De Jesus. He visited last week, and it reportedly went well. De Jesus would be a big pick-up.

• This week, the staff has covered the state and some neighboring areas as much as it could given the weather and based off who was closed and whatnot. Who was where?

-Coach Barry Odom has been in the Indianapolis area on Tuesday, Wednesday and today, hitting all major schools.

-DB coach Charles Clark has been in Indy area, along with DC Mike Scherer.

-OL coach Vance Vice in Indy yesterday, working what he can in southern Indiana on Wednesday and Thursday.

-QB coach Darin Hinshaw in Indy on Wednesday and Chicago area today. He was in Tippecanoe County on Tuesday.

-OC Josh Henson in Indy on Wednesday and Thursday.

-WR coach Cornell Ford in the Region area.

-RB coach Lamar Conard in Elkhart/South Bend.

-DL coach Kelvin Green in Ft. Wayne.

-ST coach James Shibest in Muncie and rural central Indiana.

-DE coach Jake Trump in Chicago Tuesday and Wednesday. Trying to get southern Indiana on Thursday.

Enjoyed stopping by to see Head Coach Shane Fry at West Lafayette HS!! Great visit and he has produced Great players for years! pic.twitter.com/UH1MoeWK3i

— Darin Hinshaw (@CoachHinshaw) January 7, 2025

• The most intriguing portal addition is Canadian OL Giordano Vaccaro, a product of the University of Manitoba. New OC Josh Henson is the coach who “brought him to the table.” Vaccaro will have one or two years of eligibility. Staff still sorting through that. Vaccaro was the Canadian offensive lineman of the year. So, there’s that.

Back in the 1980s, Purdue had a nice collection of Canadian players with late assistant Willard Wells serving as the conduit to Canada. Wells helped reel in players like OL Bill Hitchcock, FB Ernie Schramayr and LB Tony Visco. Another former Boiler/Canadian of note: the late OL Denny Chronopoulos. Hitchcock played in the NFL, while the others all played in the CFL.

• As mentioned, so far, Purdue has 27 commitments from the transfer portal. On3 ranks the group No. 69 in the nation. Last year, On3 ranked Purdue’s incoming transfers 31st in the nation.

A look at where On3 ranks Purdue’s portal additions:

No. 285 Tennessee WR Nathan Leacock
305 UNLV FB Christian Moore
399 Arkansas QB Malachi Singleton
463 UNLV OL Jalen “Chop” St. John
540 UNLV CB Tony Grimes
679 UCF QB EJ Colson
814 Akron DE CJ Nunnally
937 Arkansas LB Mani Powell
987 USC WR Charles Ross
1,014 Memphis S Tahj Ra-El
1,062 Arkansas LB Carson Dean
1,282 UNLV OL Hank Purvis
1,313 UCF WR Chauncey Magwood
1,322 Wake Forest TE Luca Puccinelli
1,381 Virginia Tech RB Malachi Thomas
1,405 UNLV TE Christian Earls
1,569 UNLV OL Mason Vicari
1,621 TCU S Richard Toney
1,905 Michigan DE Breeon Ishmail

PURDUE BASKETBALL RECRUITING

• Our expectation is that Purdue will have elite 2026 guard Tay Kinney on campus later this month for a junior official visit.

As has been well documented here, Kinney can go anywhere he wants and there will be big money there for him, but he has always really liked Purdue, PJ Thompson has done a great job recruiting him and Braden Smith has now laid a strong blueprint for PG play at Purdue, and he’s leaving after next season. Kinney is also dead-serious about basketball, and Purdue often does well with those sorts of guys who want to talk ball instead of money or whatever.

Pardon this ridiculous video. I had to recover lost files by any means necessary.

• Trey Thompson just visited Tennessee and it does seem as if the near-by Vols have gotten serious about him. It seemed for a bit there he’d be committed to Purdue before that happened. Now, there’s gonna be a battle here. Tennessee is his state school, an hour from Greeneville and at last check No. 1 in the country.

Here’s guessing the early, early commitment plan has changed. (BN)