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Gold and Black Illustrated, Vol 27, Digital 5

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GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 27, ISSUE 5 46 BY BRIAN NEUBERT BNeubert@GoldandBlack.com F rom Day 1 at Purdue, Jeff Brohm recruited like he need- ed a new team now. In football, the numbers are such that a roster — in this case, a roster that's been part of significant strug- gles the past several years — can't be turned over overnight. But what coaches can do is fill as many holes as they can as quickly as they can with experienced players. That was Brohm's aim from the very first day on the job. Needing to throw a Band-Aid over a corps of personnel that shows gap- ing holes at certain positions and a glaring lack of depth, to put it kind- ly, across the board, Brohm and the staff that joined him at Purdue a few weeks later this winter teed off on the junior college and graduate-transfer markets, looking for the proverbi- al quick fix toward bringing the Boilermakers closer to competitiveness in 2017 than they might otherwise have been. When Purdue added defensive tackle Ray Ellis of the City College of San Francisco in April, he became the Boilermakers' sixth junior college addition. The pickings are obviously thin at this point in the spring now, but it's conceivable Brohm and Co. aren't done there, either. Brohm can be expected to recruit the junior college market annually from here on out, but the volume of signees in this 2017 class is most likely a short-term, cir- AN INFUSION OF AGE Purdue hopes incoming experience makes a difference in 2017 PRESENTS: FOOTBALL RECRUITING Blue and Gold Illustrated Corey Holmes is a transfer from Notre Dame who, along with two junior college recruits, figures to factor heavily into Purdue's wide-open wide receiver mix. NEW, BUT OLD A look at Purdue's confirmed incoming up- perclassmen, or otherwise older players, all of whom are immediately eligible for 2017. Player Position Year Ray Ellis DT Jr. Kai Higgins DE So.* Corey Holmes WR Sr.# T.J. Jallow S Jr.* T.J. McCollum LB Sr.* Josh Okonye DB Sr. Ethan Smart OT Jr.* Terry Wright WR Jr. Isaac Zico WR Jr. * Already enrolled at Purdue # Holmes is a senior academically, but has two seasons of eligibility remaining.

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