Recruiting News, Notes and More

Welcome to “Recruiting News, Notes and More,” GoldandBlack.com’s weekly information clearinghouse, a spot for assorted bits of Purdue news, analysis and so on and so forth, intended for GoldandBlack.com members and GoldandBlack.com members only. We do respectfully ask that you please do your best to keep proprietary info shared here within the confines of this site.

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PURDUE FOOTBALL RECRUITING

• Purdue is playing host to a raft of recruits on Saturday, mostly 2026 kids. The group does include three 2025 commitments: RE Landon Brooks, OL Cam Gorin and ILB Sam Steward, the most recent commit and a hidden gem of sorts who some believe may be able to help next year on special teams.

The four 2026 visitors who have been offered:
-RB Jayzon Thompson. He’s a small (5-9ish) but dynamic back from the same Knoxville, Tenn., area high school as current Purdue true freshman RB Jaheim Merriweather. Auburn, Wisconsin, Boston College, Memphis are among his offers. Thompson is explosive, twitchy, great ball skills, smart kid. He’s one of Purdue’s top prospects at RB.
-WR Tyreek King. Another Knoxville recruit, the 6-foot King is lauded as the No. 5 player in Tennessee by the On3 Industry ranking. He has a deluxe list of offers from the likes of Michigan, Alabama, Tennessee and Auburn.
-S Marcello Vitti. The 5-10 Detroit product is one of two primary safety targets for Purdue–Kaden Gebhardt is the other–in the Class of 2026. Auburn, Iowa, Northwestern and Arkansas are schools which have offered.
-CB Kasmir Hicks. He’s a 5-11 corner from Decatur Central in suburban Indianapolis. Cincinnati, Indiana are among his offers, along with several MAC schools. (TD)

The visitors Purdue is recruiting but has yet to offer:
-S Deacon King. A Westfield (Ind.) kid who is in the mix. If Vitti or Gebhardt fall through, King would become a higher priority.
-ATH Omar Williams. Local product from Lafayette Jeff can play wideout or defensive back. He’s 6-3, holding a couple of MAC offers.
-ILB Trevor Gibbs. A Crown Point (Ind.) target who also plays tight end.
-DT Elijah Berman. Comes from a good program in Dayton (Ohio): Chaminade Julienne. Has a couple of MAC offers.
-CB Carsen Eloms. A 6-0 DB from Fishers (Ind.) has a slew of MAC offers.
-OL Jake Palucki. MAC offers so far for the Bollingbrook (Ill.) product.

• It is noteworthy that Purdue is getting big-time 2027 WR Monshun Sales on campus on Saturday. He is just a sophomore at Lawrence North in Indy, a 6-5 target who already has garnered a lot of attention … Tennessee, Ole Miss, West Virginia, Illinois, Purdue among his offers.

• Purdue recently offered Warren Central DE JJ Finch, lauded by most to be the No. 1 player in Indiana in the Class of 2026. Oklahoma, Notre Dame, Michigan, Tennessee, Washington and Wisconsin are among his offers. Warren Central produced another big-time DE in the Class of 2025: Damien Shanklin, who is committed to LSU. Finch is the son of former Florida and IU safety Jerimy Finch, who was an absolute freakshow athletically.

• Purdue has a nice recruiting presence in Tennessee, especially the Knoxville area. Several coaches have planted the flag in the Volunteer State, including Lamar Conard, Cory Patterson, Sam Carter, Marcus Johnson, Joe Dineen and Brick Haley. (TD)

PURDUE BASKETBALL

Just a few quick notes/observations …

• Trey Kaufman-Renn is shooting threes like he did during that glorious summer of COVID, the result of which was Purdue feeling comfortable recruiting him as a possible 3 man, which obviously never materialized, one of the reasons being injury and the changes to his body that occurred afterwards.

I was one of the few people to actually see it, when my glasses weren’t fogging up due to the mask, but he shot the hell out of the ball that summer and did look small forward-y in his game.

(It’s nice to have a video library to refer back to …)

Obviously Purdue doesn’t want hm trying to be Paul Pierce or something this year, but the floor-spacing element could be really valuable, for floor-spacing or in pick-and-roll, where his short-roll game is going to be a real weapon. He is very good at making those long runners.

• Camden Heide is dealing with a sore back and was just a spectator on Monday. Doesn’t seem like a big deal.

• Looks and sounds like Will Berg is doing a good job as a roll man with Braden Smith, which would be a welcomed development offensively. Rebounding and screen-setting are his best paths to the floor, but any offensive punch he can provide in pick-and-roll wouldn’t be turned away. Daniel Jacobsen is raw physically, but his quickness and endless catch radius put him in that mix, too, but Berg is better equipped as a screener at this point and more of a handful on the glass. Jacobsen’s shot-blocking potential is important, too.

• In drillwork, Myles Colvin gets reps as a pick-and-roll ball-handler, perhaps a look-see into how Purdue may try to use him offensively at times. They want him getting downhill and getting to his pull-up jumper or just any situation where he can create against someone he can get a shot off over.

• Fletcher Loyer looks the best he ever has, IMO, as upperclassmen should.

• Expect the Big Ten schedule out within the next week-and-a-half or so.

Requisite reminder that just because someone was not mentioned here, that doesn’t mean they’ve been swallowed up by a hole in the earth. (BN)

PURDUE FOOTBALL

• Feel pretty good saying true freshman Spencer Porath will trot onto the field and attempt the first field goal of 2024. And Ben Freehill will be the kickoff guy. Elijah Jackson on kickoff returns and Dillon Thieneman on punt returns. Looks like a dynamic tandem. (TD)

• S Antonio Stevens is one of the more underrated players on the squad. Was told recently he’s further along at this point in his final season than Sanoussi Kane was at this time last year. (TD)

• With ILB Yanni Karlaftis sitting out the first half on Saturday for being ejected for targeting in the second half of the finale last year vs. IU, look for Winston Berglund to fill in. Staffers feels Berglund–a redshirt freshman–has a bright future.

PURDUE BASKETBALL RECRUITING

There are no basketball visitors this weekend, but next weekend, the fur starts flying (yeah, that’s right) on official visits, as Trent Sisley comes in for his OV. There’s nothing more Purdue can tell or show him, but him getting a chance to be around Purdue’s players will be a positive. The team on campus right now is likely to be pretty much the same team any 2025 recruits who sign will be part of. There may be some aversion with his camp to joining a particularly portal-heavy program — maybe not a dealbreaker — so Purdue having a pretty clear roster outlook may be a plus for them. That would include a few players Sisley knows, in Jack Benter (they took pictures together after the Kokomo all-star game) and starting in 2026, Luke Ertel. We don’t have much reason to think Ertel and Sisley are attached at the hip or anything, but a familiar face can’t hurt.

Sisley’s stated plan has been an October decision after several visits. Purdue would love to compel him to change that and just be done with it, but we’ll see.

Outside of that, not much to report beyond what we already have. Purdue seems well positioned with guard Antione West, who we expect to visit the weekend after next. Not that Purdue can’t win that one head to head over Ohio State straight-up, but it bears mentioning the Buckeyes are knee-deep in with Jerry Easter, Darryn Peterson and Isiah Denis at the same position/similar positions, and already has Dorian Jones committed, and booked West’s visit for October, which is pretty late. He’s clearly not the same level of priority for them as he is for Purdue. (BN)