I haven't said a lot about the Derek Willis situation because I have a different perspective than most. To me, these kids aren't ours at all until they can sign on the dotted line. They are teenagers. Their minds change daily. My oldest nephew is 16 right now and he has no idea what he's going to do this year in school, let alone in college or where he is going to go. Had he decided to play basketball he'd be a class of 2014 player. His indecisiveness is exactly the type of guy that we're trying to recruit now that 2012 is full and 2013 is nearly full. This is going to happen, and I don't think it ends all chance of Derek Willis coming to Purdue. He simply re-opened his commitment.
In the meantime, the inexorable march of time is bringing us another day closer to football.
Antoine Lewis - Fr. (RS)
Hometown: Broadview, IL (Proviso East HS)
Cornerback
5'10" 180 pounds
2011 Projection: reserve at cornerback
Lewis is one of the few players that was able to hold on to his redshirt in 2010. Ricardo Allen and Josh Johnson are now the starters at his position. Mike Eargle, Charlton Williams, and Normondo Harris are ahead of him on the depth chart, so I don't know if we'll see a lot of him in 2011, either.
Lewis was a track athlete in high school and also played some receiver, catching 16 touchdown passes in his last two years. That tells me he knows how to go get the ball and what to do with it once he has it. As a three-star prospect he had some pretty good offers, and Purdue's was good enough to sway him away from Minnesota. Like so many other guys, he brings a ton of speed to our defense. That link to Buck Bravo's blog has video of his high school achievements.
Boilermakings Notes:
Fall Camp - Day Two
A mid-afternoon thunder shower turned the conditions for Day Two of camp into a hot and humid affair. The team took numerous water breaks throughout the session to keep hydrated.
Purdue QB has firm grip on glove | Journal and Courier | jconline.com
Ten months removed from a freak injury to his right index finger, Rob Henry doesn't know whether to laugh or cry.