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IllustrateD volume 24, issue 5 31 f Sinz left the spring as Purdue's only healthy, eligible and experienced tight end, the others dropping around him one right after another. Holmes, who has recovered from the wrist injury that forced a medical redshirt, missed the spring semester at Purdue while he works to get his academics in order; Carlos Carvajal tore his ACL midway through spring, forcing a May surgery and putting him out until midsea- son, at the earliest; and Dolapo Macarthy popped out his shoulder with a week left in the spring, keeping him out the spring game and sidelining him until late-May. The absences left Sinz taking almost every first-team snap during the last couple weeks of the spring, but he did little complaining, remem- bering advice given to him in 2012 when Holmes and Crosby Wright were dinged up during the season. Then, Sinz says his body language showed a guy who was wearing down, slumping his shoulders because he was asked to give all the practice reps while Holmes and Wright played on Saturdays. But Pete Nochta, a former graduate assis- tant who coached the tight ends for a season, snapped Sinz out of the funk. "(He) said never complain about getting reps, so that's kind of always stuck with me," Sinz said. "A lot of guys are really wanting to get out there, so I always cherish my oppor- tunities and I think it's made me a lot better football player." Holmes and Macarthy likely will alleviate that in the fall. The duo should return and bring with them a ton of potential. That char- acterization has always been associated with Holmes, who has shown ability at times but only in short spurts; and Macarthy is intriguing because of his recent shift to tight end, with potential matchup problems that he could cause for defenses. Sinz might not be that, but he could be the best com- plete package. He's Purdue's most physical and best blocking tight end, and he has sure hands. His mistakes are usually at a minimum. "He's just smart," quarterback Danny Etling said. "He just understands the game. … Sometimes, he'll be run- ning a route and all of a sudden, I'll look over and he'll just be open. I don't know how he got open until I watch the film. It wasn't necessarily the route (as) it was supposed to be run, but he's open. He just understands football." And that makes sense. Sinz has absorbed football over the years, soaking in tidbits of knowledge from his brothers and helping him improve. "That's the one thing that he probably benefitted the most from being the youngest one in our family," Jordan Sinz said. "He had three older brothers who had gone through the experience of playing and we could offer quite a bit of advice on what it meant to work hard." Justin was certainly listening. j Kevin Griffith — Danville, Calif. Senior, Industrial Engineering Kevin was one of 39 Purdue student-athletes honored as Distinguished Scholar Award recipients by the Big Ten in July. In all, three members of the 2013 men's track and field team were named to the list. "Justin is a reliable guy. I think we often remind Justin don't just be satisfied with that. I think he's capable of more." Offensive coordinator John Shoop on tight end Justin Sinz