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Gold and Black Illustrated, Vol 25, Digital 2

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56 ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 25, ISSUE 2 f Below, Gold and Black Illustrated takes a look around Purdue's recruiting landscape over the next three classes. CLASS OF 2015 The proverbial "Purdue fit" applies to the Boilermakers' two standing senior commitments, Ryan Cline and Grant Weatherford, both of them in-state guards. Cline fits the bill for the offensive skill Painter's been looking to stockpile, falling in line with Kendall Stephens' and Dakota Mathias' skill sets and maybe even trumping them both in terms of pure shooting. The Carmel High School star and Mr. Basketball candi- date for the coming season is regarded as one of the finest jump-shooters in the high school ranks nationally. He put it on display this summer when he helped his AAU team, Indiana Elite, to the championship of a few prominent tournaments in July, including the adidas Super 64 in Las Vegas. In the title game of that event, the 6-foot-4 shooter dropped 25 points on 7-of-10 three-point shooting in a con- test broadcast nationally on ESPN. Purdue spent the summer following Cline, now ranked 147th nationally by Rivals.com, and came to be enamored with Weatherford, his teammate and now the Boilermak- ers' designated point guard recruit for the '15 class, bar- ring anything unforeseen with other recruits. Compared often to Chris Kramer in profile, style of play, skill set and demeanor, Weatherford's toughness, energy and defensive potential compelled Purdue to offer him a scholarship and accept a quick commitment in August. Neither player was a coveted recruit at the time of their decisions, but both are players Purdue's coaches ID'd as fit- ting well or filling distinct needs for coming teams. Purdue is not done recruiting for the 2015 class. It's made five-star Fort Wayne Homestead big man Caleb Swanigan the primary focus of its ef- forts moving forward, though it will have to wait through the spring for a decision. The competition is pretty much everyone — Michigan State and Kentucky are among those pursuing him hardest from his long list of nation- al offers — but Purdue is considered a contender given its long history with him, its reputation for featuring its big men and the array of shooters it's accumulated to put around its post players. The 6-8, 260-some-pound big man isn't an elite athlete by any stretch, but he's one of the high school ranks' most dominant rebounders, one of its more prolific and polished scorers and an exceptional passer. "(Coaches) like that he's going to rebound the basket- ball and he's going to play harder than everybody else and that he takes pride in playing harder than everybody else," Swanigan's guardian, former Purdue two-sport athlete Roosevelt Barnes, said. "That's who he is, and (coaches) appreciate that. And then, it's his (high) basketball IQ. That's another big thing." Purdue might throw a parade if it can get Swanigan, who reclassified from the 2016 class to 2015 and is only now making college visits with recruiting in mind. He'll continue to do so through the college basketball season before presumably signing in April. In all likelihood, though, it'll add another big man also. Purdue would like a center to go along with Cline and Weatherford for the early-signing portion of this class. The Boilermaker coaching staff had targeted 7-5 native of Senegal Tacko Fall, who was scheduled to make an offi- cial visit the weekend of Oct. 25, but did not, a likely indi- cation he is headed elsewhere. That might direct Purdue's attention toward 7-footer Seth Dugan of Otsego, Mich. Dugan is scheduled to make an official visit the weekend of Nov. 8. He's been told his chance for an offer might be contingent on Fall's decision, so he'd seem like a prime candidate now. Dugan's been offered by Xavier and a host of mid-ma- jors and has continued interest from Michigan, Michigan State, Wisconsin and others.

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