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Gold and Black Illustrated, Vol 26, Digital 5

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GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED OLUME 26, ISSUE 5 54 2017 class, or so Purdue's actions thus far in recruit- ing suggest. The Boilermaker staff has continued, for example, to recruit Arkansas' Taylor Powell, hosting him in the spring for an unofficial visit and sending coaches to his school in recent weeks to see him. Even if Purdue doesn't get the highly recruited Powell, its continued pursuit of him would suggest an open-ness to adding multiple QBs in this class. But there will be certain positions, like with any year, where scholarships will be most concentrated. Some of them: Defensive line: Again. Purdue is set to lose its best defensive linemen currently in tackle Jake Replogle and end Evan Panfil, with mostly unprov- en — and low numbers — behind them. Purdue did sign several tackles in the 2016 class, but could clearly use some more ends, where it just signed two junior college players as a stop-gap. Offensive line: Purdue is short on num- bers on the offensive line and signed only two as incoming freshmen. It wanted a true center in the last class, but incurred a decommitment there when Dylan Powell opened up and wound up at Stanford. Maybe it tries again this cycle. Linebacker: Purdue signed only one last sea- son and has a core group of veterans in the program now — Jimmy Herman, Danny Ezechukwu and Ja'Whaun Bentley — who won't be around much longer. Tight end: Purdue skipped the position in the 2016 class and has just three on scholarship currently. They're all underclassmen, but still, it would seem like a must in this class. Wide receiver: This might be more an im- mediate-need thing than a matter of numbers. Purdue has a robust group of wide receivers, but with DeAngelo Yancey, Cameron Posey, Domo- nique Young and some others on their way out, Purdue will need receiver recruits who can play immediately. Expect Purdue to be very active in the junior col- lege market again this year, especially at offensive tackle and wide receiver. SATELLITE CAMP BAN WOULD HAVE AFFECTED PURDUE The biggest story in recruiting this spring turned out to be a non-starter. On April 28, the NCAA decided to reverse its ban on "satellite" camps, the practice of schools co-spon- soring summer camps away from their own campus- es, giving Michigan, for example, the leeway to hold camps all over the country last year. The SEC is known to have fought the practice hard, in order to keep northern programs — Penn State was the pioneer here, but Michigan the pro- gram that put a face on it — out of their recruiting hotbed. How would that have impacted Purdue? Well, this summer, Purdue was slated to conduct four satellite camps itself, according to Hazell. As of press time, it was unclear whether they will be reinstated. They were — or perhaps still are — to be held in Chicagoland, Northern Ohio, the Detroit area and Wisconsin, an interesting set of sites consid- ering Purdue would have been moving north in- stead of south. Last summer, Purdue held a satellite camp in Nashville, in hopes of increasing its recruiting presence there, but also draw prospects in from Atlanta, now one of the most heavily recruited cit- ies in America. The Nashville camp produced an offer to, and commitment from, wide receiver Nate Johnson, who wound up decommitting months later and signing with Michigan. Purdue had also planned a Chicago camp last year, but it fell through due to logistical issues. j

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