Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/218409
news and notes Hit The Road Hours after the end of the Bucket game, Coach Darrell Hazell and his staff will be on the road recruiting. The open contact period starts Sunday and runs through Dec. 15, a shorter window than years past. Hazell says his plane flies out at 10 a.m. Sunday, about 15 hours after Purdue wraps up against Indiana. Purdue has 10 commitments right now for its 2014 class, approximately half of its expected total. "It's a little bit tougher now," Hazell said of the two-week recruiting window. "We're going about 14 days where we can actually have some contacts with the recruits, which we're going to have to hustle, get to a lot of different places in those two weeks." Hazell will be back on campus Dec. 6-8, the first couple days for a recruiting weekend, then for the team's postseason banquet. He says 16 prospects are scheduled in for the weekend. "We have to do a good job with organization, making sure we have everything just on point so we can do a great job that weekend," said Hazell. The dead period is extended, lasting from Dec. 16 to Jan. 16, until contact is opened up again. Signing day is Feb. 5. Yancey, Robinson, Harris Expected Back After missing the Illinois game with injuries, DeAngelo Yancey (hamstring), Sean Robinson (concussion) and Normondo Harris (ankle) are expected to be available for Indiana. Quarterback Danny Etling suffered a bruised shoulder at the end of the first half vs. the Fighting Illini but played in the second. Tuesday, he said he was feeling fine and had been cleared to play Saturday. "It got a little sore, took a couple hits," Etling said. "I'll bounce back like I always do and it will be fine." Starting New Traditions Twenty-one former Purdue captains were in town last weekend for a "Captains' Breakfast" Saturday morning. The event was the first and one Hazell plans to continue. "The Captains' Breakfast was awesome," Hazell said. "Having 21 of our former captains back and trying to reconnect with the past with our current team was really special for our guys. It was an eye-opening experience for our younger guys to see." Among the group was NFL All-Pro Drew Brees, whose Saints played a Thursday night game. "That shows you how important Purdue is to Drew Brees for him to come back, spend time with our guys, talk to our guys before they took the field," Hazell said. "He really loves this place and loves the people at this place and wants to see it succeed." Brees led "Shout!" from the student section after the third quarter. The breakfast was one of several traditions Hazell is implementing in the final week of the season. On Sunday, Purdue invited the band in for a mini concert, letting its members introduce themselves to the Boilermakers and vice versa. In addition, Purdue's seniors will have a bit of a victory lap on Thursday, jogging around the practice field for the last time as Boilermakers. "Our last time for the seniors take a run around the practice field, have our underclassmen greet those guys as they come off the field for the last time," he said. "We have a couple things we're doing like that." — Gold and Black Staff Webster Named Finalist Cody Webster is one of three finalists for the 2013 Ray Guy Award, presented to the nation's top punter. Webster, a senior from Harrisburg, Pa., is first in the Big Ten and 19th in the Football Bowl Subdivision in punting average (43.5) and has placed 22 of his 65 kicks inside the opposition's 20-yard line. He has booted two 73-yarders and has 15 punts of more than 50 yards this season. Webster is 11th na- GoldanDBlack express • volume 24, express 12 • 25