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VOLUME 26, ISSUE 4 57 "You always have a plan," Hazell said. "That's the one thing you've learned in the past three to five years is you better have a plan for every position leaving. Coach Bridge left, and you move on and guys recruit hard and you went out and find really good players. Really, really good players. Some people on the outside might see it as an eventful thing, but we see it as business as usual. "We keep guys on hold, but we also always look. The one thing Mike Waugh has done a great job of the last two years is always — al- ways — looking regardless of whether we can take another guy or not and to see who's out there. That's where I thought we got a leg up this year was we had a list of 10-12 guys at each position where we could just call them up when something didn't go our way with someone else and we could be on it and had a chance (to get them). Before, we always would be behind the 8-ball, and said, 'OK, we've got to scramble and try to find somebody.' That was never the case." Though it may not have rattled Purdue, the tight crunch was a bit stressful for some of the recruits who ultimately signed. Hawthorne had an offer waiting from New Mexico State when he got a call from then-graduate assistant coach Camden Wentz, telling him Hazell would be visiting his school. Hazell did, speaking with Hawthorne for about an hour the next day, on Jan. 20, 15 days before signing day. Hawthorne stayed in touch with Wentz, who had got- ten an exemption to help recruit after Bridge left. Without an offer from Purdue, Hawthorne made a second visit to New Mexico State and was pressed by that staff about a decision. Hawthorne thought an offer still could be forthcoming from Purdue, so he told New Mexico State to hold off — and then he called Hazell. Hawthorne didn't want to visit Purdue unless he had an offer in hand. Hazell gave him one, and Hawthorne scheduled a visit for days later, the weekend before signing day. "It was a very stressful situation on my part," Hawthorne said. "Basically I had that weekend, so two days (to make a decision)." Not having a position coach in place gave Hawthorne pause. He called it "really, really, really risky" to commit not knowing who would be guiding him for the next four, five years. He actually was pulling for Wentz, whom he bonded with quickly. But Hawthorne wasn't going to have the lux- ury of knowing that before he signed. Instead, he made sure to closely examine every aspect of not just the school but the entire program on his visit, taking "the littlest things into the biggest consideration." He had meetings, per usual, with coaches, met potential teammates and took a tour of campus, but it was a trip to the first floor of Mollenkopf that stood out. "I took the weight room into heavy consideration and the strength coaches," said Hawthorne, listed at 6-foot-6, 275 Dennis Webb Junior college transfer Jalen Neal has played O-line for two seasons after converting from defensive line. He'll have two years of eligibility after he enrolls in the summer.