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GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 28, ISSUE 2 60 modest similarities between the two in their bodies, de- meanors and skill sets, though that comparison is obvi- ously as big a mouthful as Williams to Swanigan. Should Purdue land Campbell, it would give the Boil- ermakers a well-refined and mature point guard seem- ingly well equipped to play immediately. A star since pre-high school, Campbell played varsity high school basketball in Tennessee as an eighth-grad- er; played against 17-year-olds in AAU his entire spring- and-summer career and has spent the past three sea- sons playing at national prep powerhouse LaLumiere in Northwest Indiana, against a national schedule of the best teams in the country. His recruiting path was an interesting one. He was offered by Michigan State, Wake Forest, Missouri, several SEC programs and many others in addition to Purdue early in the process, then committed to De- Paul in the spring when it hired former LaLumiere coach Shane Heirman. At the same time, he reclassified from the Class of 2019 to '18, effectively cutting a year out of his re- cruitment and putting him back on the market after many schools had charted their course at his posi- tion. Enter Purdue, which traveled to LaLumiere in Sep- tember to see about him, then more than a month later had him on campus for an official visit, a mere two-and-a-half weeks before the early signing date. Should Campbell land at Purdue, it still wouldn't be done recruiting for the 2018 class, as it has as many as five scholarships to use, though it wouldn't have to, with four spoken for should the point guard commit. With or without Campbell, it'll take at least one open scholarship into the season. With space to play with, Painter and his staff will keep a close watch on the in-season transfer market. With all that's going on in college basketball these days in light of the FBI's on-going corruption inves- tigation, now might be an opportune time to have scholarship flexibility. If nothing materializes during the season, Purdue will once again be active in the spring recruiting market, whether it be in the high school, junior col- lege or transfer markets. Should Campbell fall through, point guard does fig- ure to be an enduring need. Though Hunter is capable of playing point, and 2018 returnees Nojel Eastern and Carsen Edwards certainly can, Purdue has long sought the proverbial true point guard the position long-term. Prior to recruiting Campbell, Purdue seemed to be positioned well to sign top-100 Virginia guard Jaelin Llewellyn, but his recruitment took a stunning turn when he abruptly committed to Princeton. Also, long-time Purdue target Robert Phinisee from McCutcheon in Lafayette committed to Indiana. j Brian Neubert Purdue targeted lefty guard Eric Hunter early, then got one of its most sought-after prospects.