GOLDANDBLACK EXPRESS • VOLUME 25, EXPRESS 26 • 19
ruary. "I liked everything when I was
there on my visit, the facilities and
that everything was so close on cam-
pus that you didn't have to go very far
just to get to a class. The players, I got
along really well with them, and the
coaches treated me really well when I
was there. I liked what they were talk-
ing about, too. It wasn't like there was
any one thing that was a major stand-
out, but I liked everything."
The 6-foot-5, 250-pounder fills a
hole of sorts in Purdue's signing class.
Without him, Purdue did not
have a four-year defensive end signee
in its class, only two-year junior col-
lege transfer Shayne Henley.
"They told me they were losing
two or three defensive ends so there
was a chance I could come in and play
early but that I'd have to gain some
weight and get stronger to be fit for
the Big Ten," Turner said in February.
"You can't play small in the Big Ten
and they weren't looking to use me to
just go outside (to rush the passer) all
the time, but they want me to be able
to go inside, too."
Purdue prioritized pass-rushers
in its 2015 class.
It hopes Turner winds up fitting
that bill.
"It's my first step that's my
strength," he said. "That's the No. 1
thing for all the coaches that recruit
-
ed me, that my first step is my best
strength and that I get off
the ball quickly and I can
get around the outside
quickly, too, and beat the
tackle."
Turner originally chose
Purdue over offers from
Virginia, East Carolina and
some smaller schools, but
West Virginia and Virginia
Tech, he said, offered him
prior to the signing date.
As a senior at Moores
-
ville, Turner made 55 tack-
les with four sacks among
his nine tackles for loss. He
also forced a fumble and
recovered another while
blocking two punts and a
field goal.
SWANIGAN IN THE
STATE TITLE GAME
Purdue 2015 big man
target Caleb Swanigan
scored 40 points on 13-of-18 shoot-
ing and grabbed 19 rebounds to
lead his Fort Wayne Homestead
team to a 90-69 win over South
Bend Riley in the semi-state round
of the Indiana state tournament.
Swanigan and Homestead will
face Evansville Reitz Saturday night
in Bankers Life Fieldhouse for the
state 4A championship.
Swanigan, a McDonald's All-
American and a consensus top-15
player in his class nationally, has
narrowed his list to seven schools:
Purdue, Michigan State, Duke, Ken
-
tucky, Arizona, California and Chi-
cago State.
He visited Purdue twice during
the season.
ANOTHER JUNIOR DAY
UPCOMING
Purdue football will host its
second junior day event this com-
ing weekend, with a group of 2016
visitors that's expected to included
two of its early in-state targets in
Mishawaka offensive lineman Ben
Knutson and Indianapolis Pike DB
Josh Hayes.
Purdue seems positioned well
with both players early on in the
process and neither has ruled out
the possibility of making an early
commitment.
j
Brian Neubert
Five-star basketball recruit Caleb Swanigan has
narrowed his list to seven schools.
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Trent Johnson, Agent
