Recruit number seven is on board, or number eight if you count the now injured Robert Marve. It is the first Florida high school recruit as well for the 2010 recruiting class. William Lucas, a 5'11" 205 pound linebacker from Lakeland, Florida chose Purdue today. He had interest from Central Florida, Auburn, Iowa State, and Western Kentucky.
This is a good pickup because he comes from a championship program in the state of Florida. They are one of the top teams in class 5A in Florida (second largest class). Their loss to St. Thomas Aquinas in last year's championship game gave the team from Ft. Lauderdale the mythical national title. Incoming tight end Game Holmes was on that St. Thomas Aquinas team as well. Lucas led Lakeland with seven tackles and a sack in the state championship game, which was a 56-7 loss to St. Thomas Aquinas. For the record, Gabe Holmes started the scoring with a 53 yard touchdown catch.
Lucas is a very promising player. He led the team in tackles last season with 130. He added 4 sacks and 25 tackles for loss. It would be fantastic if we could also get his teammate Quayshawn Nealy, simply because we need a guy with the name Quayshawn. Nealy has shown some interest in Purdue, as well.
Scout lists him as a taller player, but only as a one-star recruit. I have no idea why that is. This kid was the leading tackler on one of the top teams in Florida. If his commitment sticks I think it will be a huge boost for us. He is posied for a huge senior season and will likely be in the spotlight because of Lakeland's history. Let's welcome him into the Boilermaker family today.