Before today the Purdue recruiting class of 2013 was short on offensive linemen. Today the deficiency was addressed as coach Hazell's Ohio connections paid off in a big way. Jason Tretter, a 6'7" 305 pound lineman from Richfield, Ohio commited during his official visit approximately a week and a half before signing day. He had offers from Kent State and Toledo and he is the first strictly offensive line commitment for 2013.
I wasn't too worried about linemen in this class, mostly because coach Heft behind several that redshirted as freshmen from the last class. Cameron Cermin, Jason King, James Prince, Jordan Roos, and Joey Warburg are all coming out of their redshirt years with four years of eligibility and were decently rated last season.
Still, Tretter has the size to already be a Big Ten lineman. He is unrated so far from the major service, but according to ESPN Virginia, West Virginia and Pittsburgh were giving him a look. Part of the reason he may have been overlooked is that his team went 1-9. That's okay. Another offensive line recruit we once had also went to an even worse high school. I remember covering him and their entire offensive playbook was, "run behind the Big Ten offensive lineman going to Purdue." His name was Mike Otto and he became a four-year starter and is still in the NFL with the Titans.
Tretter's highlights can be found here. It looks like a good pickup because you can't teach 6'7" 300+ pounds. I expect he'll redshirt here in the fall to get more Big Ten ready with so many other linemen already ahead of him and we'll here more in the future. This was an investment pickup.
As a final bonus you'll notice that many Ivy League schools were looking at him according to ESPN. It's always good to get a smart kid like that.
Welcome aboard, Jason!