IllustrateD volume 24, issue 4 13
f
"Cason, though, is
self-combustible. He has
good length for the cor-
nerback position, but
not great speed. Yet, he
matched up with the top
receivers in the country
and had no problem stay-
ing with any of them. He
finished as a top perform-
er at all three of those
Rivals Camps, and that
is not an easy thing to do
on a field of 200 Division I
prospects."
Cason, a three-star
Rivals.com prospect and
10th-best overall in the
state of Michigan, was a
Western Michigan com-
mitment before receiving,
and then quickly accept-
ing, an offer from Purdue
in early October. Even
then, he had not visited
the Boilermakers' cam-
pus, yet was drawn to the
school's engineering pro-
gram. A later visit, during
Purdue's big recruiting
weekend Dec. 6, sealed
his commitment.
At Clarkston High
School, which he helped
lead to a state champion-
ship in Michigan last sea-
son, Cason was a two-way
player. He had 32 tackles
and three interceptions
on defense, and nearly 40
receptions and six scores
as a receiver.
It was the latter that
had long been his primary
position.
"Then I played in the
secondary just to have
fun, to play on both sides
of the ball," Cason said.
"Then one day, my coach-
es and people who helped
me with the recruiting
process, they told me I'm
an above-average-sized
DB and that I should stick
to it.
"At first I was skeptical
about it, like I didn't really
want to play it. But once I
started doing individual
training with it and I start-
ed really getting into one-
on-ones, it started becom-
ing fun."
Cason, the nephew of
Arizona Cardinals' cor-
nerback Antoine Cason, is
thought to be a physical,
tough player who has a
knack for making plays.
"This is a guy who
coaches saw they needed
on the field," Purdue de-
fensive coordinator Greg
Hudson said. "So he didn't
leave it."
For more on Cason and
Purdue's defensive back
commitments, see Pages
24-25.
COREY CLEMENTS
Offensive Tackle
Corey Clements is just
a massive human being.
Even his listed height
and weight of 6-8, 375
Cason
Brian Neubert
David Blough's stock blew up after his commitment to
Purdue, following his appearance at the national Elite 11
quarterbacks camp.
