Gold and Black is a multi-platform media company that covers Purdue athletics like no one else.
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/339722
ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 24, ISSUE 6 75 f I N T H E I R W O R D S : 2 0 1 4 R E C R U I T I N G C L A S S TIM CASON, CB You seem like a guy who brings some things from an intangible standpoint, having been a state champ and a guy who has played through some injuries. Do you feel like that, too? "It's what's inside, and that's my drive. I've played with injuries and also I just had to work through it. Even though I was committed to Purdue in middle of the season, I got hurt with knee problems and I still played and I still practiced. Even the coaches, they were like, 'Tim, you could sit out.' But I was building through that state cham- pionship and it was my last year. Most of my friends were commit- ted to different Division I colleges, they were like, 'You don't have to play. Just sit out this game.' I was like, 'I can't really do that because if I did that, we wouldn't be where we are.' It's just my drive. I have an outstanding drive and I won't let anyone take that away from me." You fought like crazy to grad- uate from high school early to enroll at Purdue but then were told you couldn't come. Then you spent your off time train- ing three times a day in Chicago before enrolling for Maymester. That response says a lot about you. "That goes back into my drive. I'm just a different person. I love to work. That's why when I first got out of school and wasn't do- ing anything, because I was ex- pecting to go early to Purdue, so after that happened, I was like, 'What am I going to do?' So I got into contact with people I knew who would help me out. Once I figured that all out, it was gravy and it's been working out great for me." COREY CLEMENTS, OL You're a big guy, 390 pounds. How do you use that to your ad- vantage and not allow it to be a disadvantage? "I never knew I was that big. It was a thing where I went on a visit and they had a real-sized scale and I found out. I never knew, so I was just a player." In talking to one of your ju- nior college coaches, he said he didn't even realize you were as big as what you are. It was a sur- prise to that coaching staff, too. So Purdue weighed you in? "I thought I came into junior col- lege at 400, and I had thought that I came down. But (actually) I came to junior college at 500, then came Freshman Orientation TRAE HART, WR You won the 100-meter state ti- tle this spring, after false starting a year ago. How did you false start? In high school, is it a deal where if you false start once, you're auto- matically DQ'd? "Yeah, that's automatic. But it wasn't a false start really, it was that I was leaning. I guess I was leaning. I hadn't even come out of the blocks – they never said go – I guess I was just leaning too much forward. I guess you can't do that. I don't know what the rule was, but he decided to dis- qualify me." I would guess you were pretty upset by that? "Yeah, I was real mad, because we had made the trip all the way there and I had worked really hard to get there. And then they disqualified me when I didn't even jump, it kind of stunk." But pretty good redemption this year? "Oh yeah." What is your PR and what was your time at state? "My PR is 10.51. And my time at state was an 11.00; we were going against the wind and stuff." Wes Wolfe Trae Hart could be an option as a return man as a rookie. He's shown the speed to be effective.