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GOLDANDBLACK EXPRESS • VOLUME 25, EXPRESS 20 • 1 BY BRIAN NEUBERT BNeubert@GoldandBlack.com P urdue looked all over for its 2015 class. It signed players from 11 states and secured commitments from players from 12. It recruited as far south as the Texas-Mexico border and as far north as Montreal. It hit hard California's junior college and high school ranks alike and signed its first player from Lou- isiana since 2007. What it came up with: Physi- cality and toughness. Or so it hopes, at least. "From a mentality standpoint as a football team, we have to be a more aggressive, physical, at- tacking offense, defense and spe- cial teams football team," Coach Darrell Hazell said. "Probably 25 of those (25 signees) have that in their blood, so it's good to bring it in and not have to always try to manufacture it." It's a lightly regarded class ex- ternally, generally ranked at the bottom of the Big Ten, 14th out of 14 under Rivals.com's scoring system. ESPN.com ranks Purdue's class ninth in the league. It's a class, Purdue hopes, that'll yield many proverbial diamonds in the rough, lesser-heralded high school players with potential to develop into something much greater than what they appear on paper initially. But this is also a class in which Purdue may know relatively quick - ly — in recruiting terms, at least — what it's gotten, recruited with immediate needs in mind. The Boilermaker coaching staff already has five of 25 addi- tions on campus, including two of the class' headliners in quarterback Elijah Sindelar and running back and Indiana Mr. Football winner Markell Jones. As part of its emphasis on VOLUME 25, EX 20 • FEB. 9, 2015 Inside | Early enrollees seek impact 7-8 Football notes 9–10 | Streak ends 12–17 Softball opens season 25-26 PURDUE LIKES CLASS' 'MENTALITY' Tom Campbell Coach Darrell Hazell thinks his 2015 recruiting class brings physicality to Purdue, a need after watching the Boilermakers in the second half of last season, when attrition took its toll. .008 Percentage of players who signed with the Boilermak- ers (25) out of the 3,071 film evaluations that Boilermaker coaching staff completed. 9 ESPN's conference ranking of Boiler- makers' class, the highest of the four major networks. For more, see Page 2. THE NUMBERS