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Purdue linebackers coach Marcus Freeman recalled visiting his school and coming away taken aback by how drawn to him people at the school were. ���Everybody raves about him as a person, about him as a player, as a leader,��� Freeman said. ���He���s the leader at that school and of the football team.��� The Rivals.com three-star prospect might look like a defensive end body type, but will start off at outside linebacker at Purdue. ���He���s smart,��� Freeman said. ������ He���s everything you want as a person and an athlete. It���ll be exciting to watch him grow. He holds 240 pounds really well, it���s all in his legs and his butt. He doesn���t look like a 240-pound player, which is a good thing for a linebacker.��� KEYANTE GREEN Running Back ��� 5-9, 205 G reen is small, a top-heavy 5-9, 205 pounds, but more physical than you���d expect from a player of his stature. ���I like getting between the tackles. I���ll stretch it out if I have to and I think I have pretty good vision and pretty good balance,��� said Green, who ran for 1,200 or so yards and 18 scores in leading Eagle���s Landing Christian Academy in McDonough, Ga., to a state title. ���I have decent speed and I���m trying to work on that and get faster. ��� I do want to get faster, because to be able to run between the tackles, I know playing in the Big Ten there���s a lot of big guys and I know they���ll hit me and it won���t be easy to run through them. I���m a north-south runner and I know it���s hard to run through people in the Big Ten.��� A player former coach Danny Hope coveted, Green���s a bit of a physical oddity for his position. ���The first thing you notice is how big his neck is. He wears like a size 19 shirt,��� running backs coach Jafar Williams joked. ���He said to me, ���Coach, don���t forget to tell them I have a big head, too.��� So I guess the equipment manager is going to have to find something. I said, ���He just leans the head on people and nobody wants to tackle him.��� ���... He���s a really thick kid from head to toe, a powerful player.��� For more on Green, see Page 26. what he did getting off the blocks, playing cut blocks, and getting to the football, especially at his size. In a three-down (linemen) package, they did put him on the edge and showed some of his athletic ability, at that size. That was good to see. We like what we have in him and the option to play multiple packages, without substituting some of the big guys out of there if they can play defensive end if needed.��� Howard originally committed to Hope as a mid-year signee, but didn���t make it academically to be able to transfer in January. Howard has never lacked for confidence, repeatedly referring to himself as ���one of the top defensive tackles in the country,��� and citing Ohio State, Michigan, Tennessee and others as the teams he chose Purdue over. ���Purdue expects me to come in and help fill Kawann Short���s shoes immediately,��� Howard said of his conversations with Purdue���s former staff. ���They think I���m an elite defensive tackle, a blue-chip coming in, and they said it���s rare they get a defensive lineman like me.��� DA���WAN HUNTE Cornerback ��� 5-10, 180 J on Heacock, Purdue���s new secondary coach, obviously loves the 5-10, 180-pound cornerback���s tackling skills. ���He���s what I consider a heat-seeking missile to the sun,��� Heacock said of Hunte, who goes to Miami Central High School. ���He is a guy who goes fast and very rarely gets stopped from doing that.��� On signing day, Hunte was pleased to hear that comment from his soonto-be coach. ���That���s my main motto on the field: ���Go hard on every play,������ he said. RA���ZAHN HOWARD Defensive Tackle ��� 6-4, 315 P urdue could use some young blood in its corps of defensive tackles. In Howard, a 6-4, 315-pound native of Asbury Park, N.J. who went to prep school in Atlanta, it���s getting a ready-made player physically. ���You need big people inside. He has the potential to take both A gaps with that size and ability, which as a lineman you really like,��� Hudson said. ���He has a lot of power. ���I don���t know if he is an edge guy, but we like GBIprint.com GoldandBlack.com DISCOVERY IS OUR MISSION FINDING A CURE IS OUR GOAL www.cancerresearch.purdue.edu Gold & Black IllustrateD ��� volume 23, issue 4 ������ 17