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GOLD & BLACK ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 25, ISSUE 4 27 commitment to Miami (Ohio). After weeks of deliberation, Purdue won out, to the surprise of no one. It was just about two years ago, though, that Truitt had broken his leg playing basketball, casting some doubt in his mind about what would come of his high school career, let alone his college outlook. But since then, the 6-5 Truitt devel- oped from a 220-pound project into a 300-plus-pound Big Ten signee, likely an offensive guard to begin with. There's this dichotomy to Truitt, an analytical, cerebral mind off the field — he might have been the first college football recruit in history to generate "matrix charts" as part of his decision-making process — but "nasty" on it. "I finish all my blocks," Truitt said. "Just being aggressive and tenacious, that's how I play and how I want to continue to play." At Purdue, Truitt will wear No. 68, the same number worn in the mid-2000s by his West Side position coach, Kelly Kitchel. "He's very technically sound and he's got great feet," Kitchel said. "In the passing game, he sits back and is very patient. In the run game he fin- ishes every play. He finishes all the time and that's what I love about him. He works really, really hard and in the games, he really gets after it. … The best way to describe him is just that he finishes and he gets it done all the time." And there should be up-side, Kitch- el said, in that Truitt is far from a fin- ished product physically after he's gained about 80 pounds in just a few years. "He's got to change his body a little bit," Kitchel said. "You see him now and he's a little bit rounded. You're going to see him narrow down the middle a little bit and bulk up in the chest and the arms and see him turn into kind of a specimen. He's got that kind of build, that kind of frame. As he does that, too, he'll get more ath- letic and his feet a little quicker." JESS TRUSSELL The Arlington (Texas) Martin tight end was long committed to Central Flori- da. But when UCF abruptly decided to look in another direction — "They said I wasn't big enough," Trussell said — Purdue was in his home within 24 hours to get an audience with him. The result: A quick offer, then an official visit and the commitment that followed. Purdue likes the 6-5, 225-pound- er's receiving potential. That's the starting point, at least. "He's about 225 and he's got this big body and big frame and he's going to be able to be big enough, we think, to be able to control the line of scrim- mage like he needs to," Parker said. "But he can also be able to go get the ball vertically." Trussell caught 22 passes for 493 yards and seven touchdowns as a se- nior this fall. "They like my size and my frame, to put on more weight and be able to run but also be able to get after it in the run game," Trussell said. "We watched some film (during the offi- cial visit) … and talked a little foot- ball and it looks a little similar to the offense I run in high school. There From Our Family to Yours... We Love the Boilermakers! WindowWorld.com Five Indiana Locations Lafayette Indianapolis Terre Haute Muncie Columbus NEW STORE 523 S. Earl Ave.