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GOLDANDBLACK EXPRESS • VOLUME 25, EXPRESS 15 • 24 BY STACY CLARDIE SClardie@GoldandBlack.com T his wasn't even in Ryan Russell's best-case scenario. During an interview after the season, Purdue's defensive end laid out the start of his perfect post- graduate plans like this: Do well enough in the East- West Shrine Game to get a Senior Bowl invite and then do well enough in the Senior Bowl to get an NFL Combine invite. He skipped a step. Russell was invited to the NFL Com- bine before his appearance in the East- West Shrine Game, being notified by email earlier this week. "I can't even describe this feeling," Rus- sell said in a text message after initially posting the news on his Twitter account. The Combine is Feb. 17-23 in India- napolis. Before that, though, Russell will re- port to the East-West Shrine Game on Jan. 11, giving him a week to prepare for the all-star game at Tropicana Field in St. Pe- tersburg, Fla. The game is Saturday, Jan. 17. "Whatever opportunity, I just want to do my best, give everything I have," Russell said after the season. "Whatever more op- portunities or more doors open, I'm run- ning through them full-force because it's make-or-break right now." Teammate Akeem Hunt also will play in a senior- only "bowl." Hunt is one of four running backs on the "Ameri- can" roster for the Medal of Honor Bowl, held Jan. 10 at Johnson Hagood Stadium on the campus of The Cita- del in Charleston, S.C. Russell Gets NFL Combine Invite F O OT BA L L : N E W S A N D N OT E S PRESENTS www.MeetYouAtArnis.com LAFAYETTE • INDIANAPOLIS • GREENWOOD Visit one of our 18 Indiana locations Meet You At Arni's TM Celebrates Purdue's Student-Athletes SERVING BOILER FANS FOR 50 YEARS World Famous Pizza, Salads, Sandwiches Amanda Neill Junior, Major in Movement and Sports Sciences Neill a defensive specialist from Lafayette, was one of five volleyball players to be named Academic All-Big Ten on Dec. 10. Seventy-one Purdue student-athletes received Academic recognition eclipsing last fall's total of 64 and 2012's total of 46. To be eligible for Academic All-Big Ten selection, student-athletes must be letterwinners, in at least their second year at their institution and carry a grade- point average of at least 3.0. Football and women's cross country led the way for the Boilermakers with 20 honorees for football and 19 for women's cross country. Women's soccer followed with 16, men's cross country had 11 members recognized and the volleyball team had five. Tom Campbell While training to prepare for the East-West Shrine Game in Atlanta, Ryan Russell got some big news: He was invited to the NFL Combine in February. WINTER WORK Darrell Hazell is giving his play- ers a couple days to adjust to re- turning to school before jumping into winter workouts. Purdue's semester starts Jan.