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GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 27, ISSUE 4 40 out there and they were throwing me deep balls," Jallow said, "and I'd catch about 50 percent of them. "But we had an injury at the safety position; they threw me back there and I think they liked what they saw, with my physicality especially." Purdue certainly likes it, too. The Boilermakers were drawn to Jallow, who played the last two seasons at East Mississippi Community Col- lege, a junior college powerhouse, because he's a versa- tile defensive back who is a big, rangy athlete. Purdue's not had such a physically imposing safety — Jallow is 6-foot-2, 196 pounds now, with the intent to be at about 205 by the fall — since Anthony Brown played there in 2013. "He's a physical, high-contact player," Purdue second- ary coach Anthony Poindexter said of Jallow, who is on campus now as a mid-year enrollee, during a JPC recruit- ing day event. "I call it, 'Put your face in the fan,' and he can make plays on the ball. He's going to give us some versatility." And that's good for a Boilermaker defense that's in need of upgrades in the secondary, so much so that it was a major priority for Jeff Brohm as soon as he took over the program in December. Purdue sought several instant-impact players, landing at least one in Jallow. But other veteran possibilities, for one reason or another, fell through. Indianapolis safety Mykelti Williams, who had left Notre Dame under undis- closed circumstances a year ago, signed with Syracuse after strongly considering Purdue. And Syracuse gradu- ate transfer Corey Winfield, a cornerback who had visited West Lafayette, decided on West Virginia. Still, Purdue brought in three freshmen: Jacob Abrams, a 6-2 cornerback from Carmel who was Brohm's first Pur- due commitment; Dedrick Mackey, a 5-11 corner from Miami who Purdue held on to despite strong efforts from Cincinnati and USF; and Kenneth Major, a 6-foot corner from Kentucky who had been committed to Brohm at Western Kentucky. "As far as prototypical guys, you'd like guys who are tall and can run, have some length and can make plays," Brohm said. "Sometimes, you can't get them quite as tall as you'd like, but they have to be football players. When it's all said and done, can you play football? I feel like the guys we got can." Jallow seems to fit the mold. Although he played cornerback at EMCC, the program featured on the Netflix docu-series "Last Chance U," Pur- due will slide him in as a free safety, at least at the start of this spring. The need there is apparent, as the Boil- ermakers have only two safeties — sophomore Navon Mosley and senior C.J. Parker — with experience. And though Mosley was a 10-game starter as a true freshman last season, neither he nor Parker has done enough to solidify a starting spot in 2017. Maybe Jallow takes on a lead role. "It's one of the reasons I'm here, to come in and play," said Jallow, who had 43 tackles, seven pass breakups and a fumble recovery as a sophomore at EMCC. "… That's what Coach Brohm and I have talked about, he told me they were going to need help at safety and corner, and he told me that it'd be a good opportunity for me to come in and try to help right away." For much of his recruitment, it looked like Louisville would be Jallow's Division I destination. In high school in Olive Branch, Miss., Jallow signed with the Cardinals, but he never enrolled, failing to academically qualify and instead headed to East Mississippi C.C. But in February 2016, shortly after signing day, he re-upped with Louis- ville, verbally committing for the second time. By October, however, he felt distance from the Cardi- nals and decided to decommit and look elsewhere. And by then, when he was a second-year starter for the Lions, the offers started accumulating, up to more than 20 in all. When Purdue got involved, Jallow liked what he heard. "Coach Brohm, when he was recruiting me, he kept it real, 100 percent," Jallow said. "I was committed to Louisville before, but the relationship was shady. I didn't like how they did me in high school. I just felt more com- fortable with Coach Brohm and his staff, and he told me he needed a guy to drive his defense and be part of the turnaround. So that's what I'm going to be." Jallow will do so by bringing a physical brand of foot- ball to the Boilermaker secondary. He played that way "As far as prototypical guys, you'd like guys who are tall and can run, have some length and can make plays." — Jeff Brohm