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down in their pursuit. Fellow offensive lineman recruit Kirk Barron, who became Hazell's first in-state get when he pounced on a Purdue offer following a camp, has acted much the same way following his decision, looking to spread positive word-of-mouth about the Boilermaker program. So, too, has quarterback commitment David Blough. Whether the commitments' efforts ultimately pay off and help the Boilermakers land more of their ideal targets remains to be seen, but for the time being, it would seem as if Purdue is off to a solid beginning to its 2014 class. Ward gives it a coveted target at a position of important need, in addition to whatever residuals can be gained off a player of his stature committing. Barron, a prior Ohio commitment who impressed Purdue's coaches at camp, gives the Boilermakers a center, a difficult position to recruit to. Blough, from Carrollton, Texas, near Dallas, was selected to the prestigious Elite 11 event, giving Pur- Brian Neubert Offensive tackle Denzel Ward gave Purdue a landmark early recruiting win, as the former Michigan commitment legitimately picked the Boilermakers over Florida, Ohio State, Oklahoma and others. ously committed to Michigan. That's a college football strata Purdue hasn't often come away successful recruiting against, but hopes to be able to in the future, obviously. "Hopefully it'll let other guys know you can be a big recruit but still go to a school that maybe isn't as hot right now as some others, but you can make it that way yourself and build it," Ward said after committing. "It's great for me knowing I can be a monumental piece coming in, especially with Coach Hazell being in his first year. That's a really big thing for me, just knowing I can be part of something." In the days following his commitment, the 6-foot-9, 315-pounder, who'll play this season at IMG Academy in Florida, took to Twitter to make his enthusiasm about Purdue known, going so far as to post a screen-capture of a text message exchange in which he informed a Florida assistant coach that the Gators should stand GBIprint.com GoldandBlack.com Buy a Subaru and Keep Indiana Driving. BRAND NEW 2014 SuBARu FORESTER Bob Rohrman Subaru 1600 South Creasy Lane Lafayette, IN 47905 1-866-906-6223 www.BobRohrmanSubaru.com Gold and Black IllustrateD • volume 23, issue 6 • 71