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Purdue Recruiting News and Notes

On3 imageby:Tom Dienhart•03/01/25•

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PURDUE FOOTBALL RECRUITING

• The recruiting dead period ended Monday, March 3. Look for Purdue to start having recruits on campus next week.

• 2026 South Elgin (ll.) High TE Gavin Mueller is supposed to be here Tuesday, and 2026 Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger OT Andrew Trahin is slated to be on campus on Thursday. Expect more visitors to be added as Purdue opens spring practice on March 4. There could be a bunch of guys for next Saturday’s practice on March 8.

• Could Purdue see any of the portal additions it added in December leave via the April portal window?

“You don’t really know,” said GM Brandon Lee. “You hope not. But if it’s not the right fit for them and they don’t want to be here, then you don’t want them here either. If they don’t want to be here, then that means that they kind of can rot from inside out within the locker room. So, we anticipate that there will be some but hope that there’s not.”

Look for more from Lee in coming days after we sat down with him this week for an interview in Kozuch.

PURDUE FOOTBALL

Barry Odom gets animated when he talks about it. Why wouldn’t he? The “Winning Edge” conditioning program sets the template for his program. The goal: Build a hard, smart and tough team.

“We keep that as a foundational piece of our program, and then just the words contextually, hard, smart and tough,” said Odom. “Football is a game that, in my opinion, those qualities always will end up winning. They show up. They show up in your habits.”

The Winning Edge program traces its roots to former Missouri coach Gary Pinkel, whom Odom worked for as an assistant with the Tigers. And Pinkel learned the system from his mentor: iconic Washington coach Don James.

“Assistant coaches run the drills along with myself,” said Odom. “(Pinkel) learned it from Don James years before that. And we have what we call our team bottom line, and it’s knowing your assignments, and it’s playing tough and physical and being a six-second competitor and playing with energy and enthusiasm and then evolution from that.”

For almost two weeks, players have been assembling at 6 am in the Mollenkopf for the Winning Edge, which consists of nine stations that focus on things like running form, footwork, agility all done at a high intensity.

Another feature: vomiting, which according to some watchers happened to several players during the early sessions last week.

“It’s not really that long of a workout for our guys,” said Odom. “But every drill that we do, change of direction, explosive movements, mirrors something that they do on the football field. And there’s some teamwork involved. There’s attention to detail, there’s a clearly defined start and finish to every drill.”

Odom will get to see if the arduous work has paid off next Tuesday when he leads his team in the first of 15 spring practices.

PURDUE BASKETBALL RECRUITING

So we can tell you with as much certainty as can be that Purdue will be very active in the portal following this season for, at minimum, another true big to pair with redshirt freshman Daniel Jacobsen (*). They’re not going to let this season’s crippling lack of true functional size repeat itself. The ideal addition would seem like someone big and physical enough to improve Purdue’s defensive rebounding, as well as someone who has some shot-blocking chops to go along with Jacobsen.

Does Purdue need to recruit a starter? Not necessarily. But we said the same about Lance Jones, who was recruited as a role piece but wound up as much more. Purdue can certainly play primarily again next season as it is now with Trey Kaufman-Renn (*) as its focal point, which may be at center or may be at forward. Jacobsen is a going to be a big piece of the puzzle as well, as it stands to reason to suggest Raleigh Burgess (*) can grow into what Caleb Furst does.

You’d probably prefer a one-year player, as to not jack up your 2026 recruiting process, but that shouldn’t necessarily be a dealbreaker, as there’s nothing wrong with taking a transfer to both help right away but also develop.

The big man need is going to be a must. That’s not us guessing. That’s a certainty.

After that, Purdue will probably lose some guys to better playing time opportunities elsewhere. That just makes sense. Purdue could opt to replace them, or not. May depend on how many roster spots Painter wants to use, and how Purdue’s revenue-sharing set-up takes shape. He’s on record that he’s open to maxing out his numbers, but not with 15 guys who are all expecting minutes or thinking they’re gonna start. Too many unknowns in that sense to really predict.

But another ball-handler with some quickness may still be of interest, too, to ease some burden off Braden Smith (*). Gicarri Harris (*) and CJ Cox (*) have real futures at Purdue. But a little more burst and a little more true point guard identity may not be the worst thing ever. Such a player could likely be worked in without squeezing out either sophomore-to-be, each of whom have their own pathways to niches on this projected roster.

(*) requisite reminder that we have to qualify all projections with “assuming they’re back,” which is not to suggest there’s reason to believe someone won’t be. (BN)

• Before we get into this whole portal cycle, please keep in mind that we don’t know who’s even going to be available, so it’s hard for us to speculate on who Purdue may pursue before those players are even in play. We can throw whatever names we want at the wall but that doesn’t mean that A) they’ll be available or B) they aren’t already DM’ing with the school they’ll commit to the day after their name gets posted.

Want to add, too, that the international route is always possible, too. Purdue has had Sasha Stefanovic doing some work in that area as he has contacts through some of his international experiences. That may not necessarily mean players currently in Europe, but maybe players from Europe who may be in the States now.

• Purdue had Fishers 2027 point guard Cooper Zachary in Mackey Arena for the UCLA game. the sophomore has early low-major offers already but high-majors really like him, Purdue included it seems. Purdue has already offered teammate Jason Gardner Jr., who’s a can’t-miss guy. Fishers has a pretty OK backcourt.

The 2027 class is going to be an interesting one for Purdue, which should have a great chance at center Isaiah Hill, from what we’ve heard. (BN)

• Rick Mount, who scored 28 points against UCLA in the Dedication Game in what is now Mackey Arena, attended Friday night’s game with the Bruins. Mount was last in Mackey for a game on Jan. 2, 2016, for his Bobblehead Night. It was a game in which the 11th-ranked Boilermakers blew a double-digit halftime lead (when Mount addressed the crowd) due in part to a second-half full-court press put on by the Hawkeyes en route to a 70-63 loss. (AK)

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