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Well, that didn't take long. Less than 24 hours after losing one of the top-rated recruits in the 2014 class with Denzel Ward decommitting Purdue picked up the 16th commitment of 2014, again and later added a 17th.
Dexter Knox, a 5'9" 200 pound running back from Creekside High School in Fairburn, Georgia became the latest commitment. He is very much an unknown player. He has not been rated yet by Rivals, Scout, or ESPN. He did, however, have a huge game in the Georgia Class 5A state championship:
Knox finished with 164 yards on 25 carries and scored on runs of 22, 16, 7, 3 and 1 yards as Creekside dashed the hopes of Tucker (14-1) for a third state championship in six seasons.
Most of what I could find on Knox was mostly message board chatter from Auburn, Tennessee, and Vanderbilt boards. No one was really sure why he wasn't gaining a ton of interest from people. A few of his TD runs from the state championship game are up on YoutTube. It sounds like this could be a diamond in the rough type of player.
The second player Purdue grabbed on Tuesday was another defensive back, this time it was Chris Jones form Sandalwood High School in Jacksonville, Florida. Jones is a 2-star according to Scout, a three-star on ESPN, and a three-star on Rivals. Jones is a bit more known than Knox, as he had offers from Indiana, and South Florida among his best. He is listed as another big corner at 6'175. He originally was with South Florida, but switched to Purdue today. According to ESPN he is the fifth D1 played on this year's Sandalwood team that lost to Lake Mary in the Florida Class 8A playoffs.
Overall, the commitments don't raise Purdue much. In fact, Purdue dropped slightly after losing Ward:
|
Player |
Rivals |
ESPN |
Scout |
|
Kirk Barron |
2-star |
3-star |
3-star |
|
David Blough |
3-star |
3-star |
3-star |
|
Trae Hart |
2-star |
3-star |
3-star |
|
Austin McGehee |
2-star |
3-star |
3-star |
|
Gregory Phillips |
2-star |
3-star |
2-star |
|
Gelen Robinson |
4-star |
3-star |
3-star |
|
Tim Cason |
3-star |
3-star |
3-star |
|
Keiwan Jones |
2-star |
unranked |
2-star |
|
Simmie Cobbs |
3-star |
3-star |
2-star |
|
Brandon Roberts |
2-star |
3-star |
3-star |
|
Jawhaun Bentley |
3-star |
3-star |
3-star |
|
Martesse Patterson |
2-star |
3-star |
3-star |
|
Will Colmery |
3-star |
3-star |
2-star |
|
Juan Jenkins |
3-star |
3-star |
2-star |
|
Cole Herdman |
2-star |
unranked |
unranked |
|
Dexter Knox |
unranked |
unranked |
unranked |
|
Chris Jones |
3-star |
3-star |
2-star |
|
CLASS RANK |
60th Nationally, 11th of 14 in B1G |
Not in top 40 Nationally |
65th Nationally, 13th of 14 in B1G |
In the Rivals rankings Purdue is ahead of Illinois, Minnesota, and Indiana in the new 14 team Big Ten, but the class is not far behind Northwestern, Iowa, and Maryland, who are all between 50 and 60.
As the grid below shows, Purdue is down to one scholarship left unless a scholarship player on the current roster with remaining eligibility does not return:
|
Player |
('14-'15) |
('15-'16) |
('16-'17) |
('17-'18) |
|
Gabe Holmes |
Senior (5) |
|
|
|
|
Akeem Hunt |
Senior |
|
|
|
|
Brandon Cottom |
Senior |
|
|
|
|
Raheem Mostert |
Senior |
|
|
|
|
Jalani Phillips |
Senior |
|
|
|
|
Taylor Richards |
Senior |
|
|
|
|
Charles Torwudzo |
Senior (5) |
|
|
|
|
Justin Sinz |
Senior (5) |
|
|
|
|
Josh Davis |
Senior (5) |
|
|
|
|
Jack DeBoef |
Senior (5) |
|
|
|
|
Jesse Schmitt |
Senior (5) |
|
|
|
|
Ryan Russell |
Senior (5) |
|
|
|
|
Sean Robinson |
Senior (5) |
|
|
|
|
Joe Gilliam |
Senior (5) |
|
|
|
|
Antoine Lewis |
Senior (5) |
|
|
|
|
Landon Feichter |
Senior (5) |
|
|
|
|
E.J. Johnson |
Senior (5) |
|
|
|
|
Danny Anthrop |
Junior |
Senior |
|
|
|
Paul Griggs |
Junior |
Senior |
|
|
|
Thomas Meadows |
Junior |
Senior |
|
|
|
Ryan Watson |
Junior |
Senior |
|
|
|
Anthony Brown |
Junior |
Senior |
|
|
|
Dolapo Macarthy |
Junior (RS) |
Senior (RS) |
|
|
|
Shane Mikesky |
Junior (RS) |
Senior (RS) |
|
|
|
Robert Kugler |
Junior (RS) |
Senior (RS) |
|
|
|
Michael Rouse III |
Junior (RS) |
Senior (RS) |
|
|
|
Armstead Williams |
Junior (RS) |
Senior (RS) |
|
|
|
Frankie Williams |
Junior (RS) |
Senior (RS) |
|
|
|
Austin Appleby |
Sophomore (RS) |
Junior (RS) |
Senior (5) |
|
|
Bilal Marshall |
Sophomore (RS) |
Junior (RS) |
Senior (5) |
|
|
Robert Gregory |
Sophomore (RS) |
Junior (RS) |
Senior (5) |
|
|
Jonathon Curry |
Sophomore (RS) |
Junior (RS) |
Senior (5) |
|
|
Aloyis Gray |
Sophomore (RS) |
Junior (RS) |
Senior (5) |
|
|
B.J. Knauf |
Sophomore (RS) |
Junior (RS) |
Senior (5) |
|
|
Cameron Posey |
Sophomore (RS) |
Junior (RS) |
Senior (5) |
|
|
Jordan Woods |
Sophomore (RS) |
Junior (RS) |
Senior (5) |
|
|
Carlos Carvajal |
Sophomore (RS) |
Junior (RS) |
Senior (5) |
|
|
Ryan Morris |
Sophomore (RS) |
Junior (RS) |
Senior (5) |
|
|
Cameron Cermin |
Sophomore (RS) |
Junior (RS) |
Senior (5) |
|
|
J.J. Prince |
Sophomore (RS) |
Junior (RS) |
Senior (5) |
|
|
Joey Warburg |
Sophomore (RS) |
Junior (RS) |
Senior (5) |
|
|
Jason King |
Sophomore (RS) |
Junior (RS) |
Senior (5) |
|
|
Jordan Roos |
Sophomore (RS) |
Junior (RS) |
Senior (5) |
|
|
Andy Garcia |
Sophomore (RS) |
Junior (RS) |
Senior (5) |
|
|
Jimmy Herman |
Sophomore (RS) |
Junior (RS) |
Senior (5) |
|
|
Danny Etling |
Sophomore |
Junior |
Senior |
|
|
Dalyn Dawkins |
Sophomore |
Junior |
Senior |
|
|
Dan Monteroso |
Sophomore |
Junior |
Senior |
|
|
DeAngelo Yancey |
Sophomore |
Junior |
Senior |
|
|
RaZahn Howard |
Sophomore |
Junior |
Senior |
|
|
Evan Panfil |
Sophomore |
Junior |
Senior |
|
|
Jake Replogle |
Sophomore |
Junior |
Senior |
|
|
Leroy Clark |
Sophomore |
Junior |
Senior |
|
|
Austin Logan |
Sophomore |
Junior |
Senior |
|
|
Keith Byars II |
Freshman (RS) |
Sophomore (RS) |
Junior (RS) |
Senior (5) |
|
Keyante Green |
Freshman (RS) |
Sophomore (RS) |
Junior (RS) |
Senior (5) |
|
David Yancey |
Freshman (RS) |
Sophomore (RS) |
Junior (RS) |
Senior (5) |
|
Myles Norwood |
Freshman (RS) |
Sophomore (RS) |
Junior (RS) |
Senior (5) |
|
Matt Burke |
Freshman (RS) |
Sophomore (RS) |
Junior (RS) |
Senior (5) |
|
Jason Tretter |
Freshman (RS) |
Sophomore (RS) |
Junior (RS) |
Senior (5) |
|
Johnny Daniels |
Freshman (RS) |
Sophomore (RS) |
Junior (RS) |
Senior (5) |
|
Antoine Miles |
Freshman (RS) |
Sophomore (RS) |
Junior (RS) |
Senior (5) |
|
John Strauser |
Freshman (RS) |
Sophomore (RS) |
Junior (RS) |
Senior (5) |
|
Johnny Thompson |
Freshman (RS) |
Sophomore (RS) |
Junior (RS) |
Senior (5) |
|
Danny Ezechukwu |
Freshman (RS) |
Sophomore (RS) |
Junior (RS) |
Senior (5) |
|
Dezwan Polk |
Freshman (RS) |
Sophomore (RS) |
Junior (RS) |
Senior (5) |
|
Da'Wan Hunte |
Freshman (RS) |
Sophomore (RS) |
Junior (RS) |
Senior (5) |
|
Kirk Barron |
Freshman |
Sophomore |
Junior |
Senior |
|
David Blough |
Freshman |
Sophomore |
Junior |
Senior |
|
Trae Hart |
Freshman |
Sophomore |
Junior |
Senior |
|
Austin McGehee |
Freshman |
Sophomore |
Junior |
Senior |
|
Gregory Phillips |
Freshman |
Sophomore |
Junior |
Senior |
|
Gelen Robinson |
Freshman |
Sophomore |
Junior |
Senior |
|
Tim Cason |
Freshman |
Sophomore |
Junior |
Senior |
|
Simmie Cobbs |
Freshman |
Sophomore |
Junior |
Senior |
|
Will Colmery |
Freshman |
Sophomore |
Junior |
Senior |
|
Jawhaun Bentley |
Freshman |
Sophomore |
Junior |
Senior |
|
Keiwan Jones |
Freshman |
Sophomore |
Junior |
Senior |
|
Brandon Roberts |
Freshman |
Sophomore |
Junior |
Senior |
|
Juan Jenkins |
Freshman |
Sophomore |
Junior |
Senior |
|
Martesse Patterson |
Freshman |
Sophomore |
Junior |
Senior |
|
Cole Herdman |
Freshman |
Sophomore |
Junior |
Senior |
|
Chris Jones |
Freshman |
Sophomore |
Junior |
Senior |
|
Dexter Knox |
Freshman |
Sophomore |
Junior |
Senior |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total Scholarships Used |
84 |
67 |
56 |
30 |
|
Total Scholarships Left |
1 |
18 |
29 |
55 |
Note that next season there will be at least 30 scholarship players with freshman eligibility.