Gold and Black is a multi-platform media company that covers Purdue athletics like no one else.
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/305196
46 IllustrateD volume 24, issue 5 f A year ago at this time, when Purdue was scrambling; its staff wasn't even complete until last February after Hazell was hired in December. Purdue was behind on the 2014 class, let alone the 2015 class. In recruiting, if a school isn't ahead, it's be- hind. There's no such thing, really, as "caught up." But a year later, the Boilermaker staff is much closer than it's been. "From a year ago to now, you don't ever panic," Parker said, "but you know a little bit more about where you are and what's going on." Parker said he believes each of Purdue's coaches is more familiar with, and better entrenched, in their indi- vidual recruiting territories, a benefit simply of the natu- ral progression of time. Continuity matters. But generally speaking, the transition period is not over. Behind the scenes, Purdue's breaking in a new infra- structure to its recruiting operation. Mike Waugh, for- merly on staff at Cincinnati, takes over as the program's director of player personnel, a position that didn't exist on the staff last year, when staff holdover Kevin Maurice served as assistant recruiting coordinator. Maurice left in the winter for a coaching position at North Dakota. It will take time for Waugh to get settled in behind the scenes in an administrative capacity as much as any- thing, but when Purdue's coaches set out on the road in April for the spring recruiting period they did so with a much improved lay of the land they were mining and a much more thorough understanding of the product they're selling. And they're "exponentially" — in Parker's words — further along than they were at this time a year ago. The Boilermaker staff was far enough along in its Class of 2015 evaluations that it was in position to distribute a dozen-plus in-state offers before the calendar had even turned to 2014. Purdue has made Indiana a central piece of its "State of Purdue" target area in recruiting. That "State" also includes Ohio, Illinois and other Big Ten-footprint states, along with Kentucky, where Purdue ventured to land Sindelar. Purdue has maintained a pres- ence in traditional territories like New Jersey, Georgia, Texas and parts of Florida, but also worked the Nashville area of Tennessee hard and made some in-roads, with a few national recruits from that area showing seemingly legitimate interest. With recruits, actions speak louder than words, and the response Purdue has gotten in terms of targeted players visiting campus, or committing to visit, has been positive, though the hardest part obviously lies ahead as battles heat up. "We've got to continue to get them here," Parker said. "The more kids you get here that we are recruiting, that's the more at-bats you get, the better chance to get on base. The more guys that get here, the better chance someone says yes. The more guys that get here, the more chances we have to show off our brand, with more parents, more siblings, more prospects, anybody we can get here to sell our product is a chance for them to leave campus and go to the city they're from and spread the word." Purdue's put a premium on the visit experience, both for winter, spring or summer unofficial visits and post- season official visits. For example, when New Jersey tight end/defensive lineman Jake Pickard visited during spring practice, meetings were arranged for him with university presi- dent Mitch Daniels and athletic director Morgan Burke. When Pickard, whose family ties to Purdue are extensive, met with coaches, each of them knew the names and de- tails of those family members with connections to the school. That sort of attention to detail has been a priority for the Boilermakers' second-year staff. "What has been effective for us is our staff and our head coach, getting around and when we get guys on campus (for visits) like our big (official visit) weekend in December, we had a lot of success," Parker said. "Using the pitch of education, it works. We learned we can locate and start to target in on high education kids that are great players. We have a chance and niche to get those players, so we have made an elevated push to go get those guys. "I think we've learned to make sure to sell that and make a push to get kids to get here, come here and give us three hours. We've seen the power in that. After that, it's our ability to show all kinds of effort when they're here, how good we can be in customer service, and if we can do that, we can sell what this place is about and sell it in the right direction, because obviously right now where we were with how last year went, that struggle is still there. But if we can get kids believing in what we know we're going to end up doing, I don't think our approach is different, we're just better for being here a year now." j