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DAN MONTEROSO Wide Receiver ��� 6-3, 185 T he wide receiver recruit from one of the easternmost points in Ohio could have played basketball at a high level, also. Monteroso, who scored his 2,000th career point for his high school in Saint Clairsville, sitting right on the West Virginia border, probably would have drawn MAC and other mid-major level offers for basketball had he not been committed to football. Those hardwood skills have suited him well in football. The 6-3, 185-pound receiver boasts a 41-inch vertical leap. As Purdue receivers coach Kevin Sherman says, ���He can dunk any way you���d want him to.��� That athleticism helped the Rivals.com three-star prospect catch 68 balls for 17 touchdowns and nearly 1,500 yards as a senior. ���Basketball helps me with my ball skills so much. I play the 2 and point guard most of the time, so I always have the ball and am always handling it,��� said Monteroso, who picked Purdue over Maryland after de-committing from Boston College following its coaching change. ���I���m the tallest kid on the team and I play point, so I have to get every rebound, too, and going up for a rebound is just like going up for a jump ball. ���And football helps me with being physical on the basketball court. A lot of times you can go in the lane, get fouled and finish with an and-one. They both help with each other so much. And I���m excited to go to school and focus on just one sport to see what I can improve on.��� Monteroso, whose father, Jeff, is the defensive coordinator at West Liberty University in Wheeling, W. Va., is interested to see how he develops as a football player now that the sport will be his sole focus. ���I feel like I do have a lot of up-side because I haven���t focused on football,��� he said. ���Once basketball is over, I���d play AAU in the spring, and that���s when I would transition into football. But it���s going to be nice to focus on that all year. My football IQ is pretty high because of my dad and everything, and with that and going into the spring, I���m excited.��� First thing, Monteroso will look to get bigger and stronger. ���I would like to put on some muscle mass, but I want to do whatever it takes to be a good football player,��� Monteroso said. ���I still want to run a 4.4, 4.5, but if I could do that at 200 pounds, that would be really nice. You���ve got to have that muscle mass to protect yourself, but you still have to be quick.��� MYLES NORWOOD Wide Receiver ��� 6-0, 185 T he 6-foot, 180-pound wide receiver from Grace Prep in Arlington, Texas, says he can���t really be categorized. ���I���d consider myself a playmaker,��� Norwood said. ���I can run routes pretty well, but I can break tackles and find the end zone.��� Norwood lined up all over the field for Grace Prep, caught passes, carried the ball and returned kicks. As a senior, he carried 80 times for seven scores and more than 600 yards; caught 15 passes, including one touchdown; and returned a kick for a TD. ���He can really do something with the ball after the catch,��� Sherman said. ���That���s what I like about these (receivers). The game starts when they catch the ball.��� Early in the recruiting process, some schools, including Oklahoma, showed 20 ��� Gold & Black IllustrateD ��� volume 23, issue 4 Myles Norwood is the Boilermakers��� lone catch from the state of Texas and is expected to play wide receiver. interest in him as a defensive back. Purdue, though, liked him at receiver and scored an early commitment, which he kept to after Washington State and Colorado State, among others, kept recruiting him. ���Whatever is best for the team, I���ll play,��� Norwood said. ���In high school, I played slot and outside. In college, wherever I fit best, I���ll play that role. ���I���d like to make an impact right away. You want to live up to the Purdue standards and get to the Rose Bowl, so whatever I can do to help Purdue do that, that���s what I���ll do.��� EVAN PANFIL Defensive End ��� 6-5, 240 T he Illinois defensive end always wanted to come to Purdue, but didn���t have the chance to until Hazell came to the Boilermakers and offered him a scholarship. At that point, the 6-5, 240-pound Boilermaker legacy ��� his grandfather, Ken, and uncle, Vince, both played at Purdue ��� was committed to Illinois and says he probably still would have stuck with the Illini had its defensive line coach, Keith Gilmore, not left for North Carolina. But he did, and so the lineman from Lincoln Way Central in New Lenox jumped to the Boilermakers, giving them a potentially outstanding pass-rusher, coaches think. The three-star Rivals.com prospect made nine sacks as a senior. His body type right now is such that he might be able to add significant size and strength to his long, wiry frame. ���He���s sneaky big,��� Hudson said. As Panfil fills out physically, he���ll hope to maintain the speed that���s made him a dangerous presence coming off the edge in high school. ���Coach Hudson explained what he could potentially do with me. He said I���m athletic enough to where maybe sometimes I could stand up at defensive end GBIprint.com GoldandBlack.com