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GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 26, ISSUE 3 39 ters from Purdue, Florida, Auburn and many others, but the trip to West Lafayette in early November was her first to a program. And it was an eye-opening experience. "It was little things, like looking at the way everybody was being treated, the way Coach Versyp deals with her players, the way she deals with her coaches," Brian Har- mon said. "And I'm a big John Wooden fan, so I got up there and get into a counseling office and I look on the walls and see his quotes and his leadership academy up there, just the thought of her being in that type of environment. All the athletes go through the leadership academy, that's — to me — I know she'll come out a better person. "The basketball is there, it's a great basketball envi- ronment, a great conference, it's the other things that made me look at it and say, 'Why would you look any further than that?'" It was too much to overlook. Although Mingo never openly recruited her to Purdue, Bria Harmon couldn't help but remember what the former player had said, that she'd be a "Boilermaker for life." Bria Harmon likes that, and she likes that Gray and Oden will be at Purdue as seniors when she's a freshman. "I'm not going to be stranded at some college where I don't really know anybody," she said. "It's going to be like I have someone there, just in case something hap- pens. They're going to have experiences that they can tell me about." It'll be a few years before the threesome can unite. But it will be a stretch that Bria Harmon won't have to worry about recruiting, she's taken care of that early. She says she won't take any more trips. A previous one to Auburn, which was supposed to have taken place before the visit to Purdue, had to be cancelled due to a conflict, and there won't be a return date. And Flor- ida was urging her to stop by when she was in the area for a high school game. "I'm not going," Bria said. "I'm committed." j INCOMING BOILERMAKERS 2016 Signees Name Pos. Ht. Hometown/High School Aerianna Harris F 6-1 Indianapolis/Lawrence North Miracle Gray PG 5-6 Stone Mountain, Ga./Stephenson Dominique Oden G 5-8 Lithonia, Ga./Marist 2017 Commitment Dani Lawson F 6-2 Shaker Heights, Ohio/Hathaway Brown 2018 Commitment Kayana Traylor G 5-9 Martinsville, Ind./Martinsville 2019 Commitment Bria Harmon G 5-7 Suwanee, Ga./Collins When I say "good," you say "neighbor." P097313.1 State Farm, Home Office, Bloomington, IL Call me for your insurance needs and see how it feels to be on a #1 team. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. ® CALL ME TODAY. Now that's teamwork. Trent B Johnson, Agent 249 E State Street West Lafayette, IN 47906 Bus: 765-743-9595 trentismyagent.com