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Notably, Purdue does not have a 2014 men's basketball commitment from anyone yet. This is an important class as the state of Indiana is loaded with talent. Just take a look at the Rivals 150. It included Trey Lyles (No. 4), Jaquan Lyle (No. 17), Trevon Bluiett (No. 46), James Blackmon (No. 47), and Sam Logwood (No. 150) as in-state players. Coach Painter seems to be looking outside Indiana, however.
Depending on what happened with the three available scholarships in 2013-14, Purdue will have between two and five available scholarships to hand out for 2014-15. One of the top targets is Vince Edwards, whom Purdue seems to be a finalist for.
Edwards is a talented 6'6", 200 pound forward from Franklin, Ohio who seems to be down to two teams, Michigan and Purdue, based on the chatter from the weekend:
Four-star SF Vince Edwards said his top two right now are Purdue and Michigan. Said they're the ones showing him the most love.
— Edward Lewis (@EdwardLewisBSR) April 21, 2013
Edwards is a pretty consensus four-star recruit that would be a very nice fit at the three for Purdue. He is rated No. 62 nationally by Rivals and if he were to commit he could be the lynchpin to a number of other recruits in this highly talented class. Here is what the very good UMHoops has to say about him:
Michigan has offered three prospects - Devin Booker, Trevon Bluiett, Vince Edwards - in the class of 2014. The Wolverine staff will be able to follow all three under one roof in Los Angeles this weekend as the Nike EYBL tips off. Booker with the Alabama Challenge, Bluiett with Spiece Indy Heat and Vince Edwards with All Ohio Red.
Pay close watch to all three players' performances and how diligently the Wolverines are following. Michigan was at nearly every game Devin Booker played on the circuit last year if it wasn't at every game and the five star scoring guard remains a Michigan priority. Booker is drawing interest from almost every top high major school but Michigan has been recruiting him the longest and will be involved in his recruitment until the end. Bluiett recently added an offer from UCLA, where his high school coach was hired as an assistant, while Edwards is down to a final two of Michigan and Purdue after visiting Ann Arbor in March.
Here is some video from last summer:
The three position, especially in Purdue's motion offense, is such a versatile position. You need to be able to defend, rebound, score, and shoot the three. As you can see from the video, Edwards can do all of that (except maybe defend since no one bothers to play defense in AAU ball.
More importantly, he could be the first domino for an outstanding class. Purdue has officially offered Lyle, Bluiett, Tyler Ulis (No. 69), Grayson Allen (No. 32), Tadric Jackson (No. 77), Jordan Barnett (No. 83), Reid Travis (No. 41), and Paul White (No. 43) in this very talented class. Getting him to commit could lead to several of them coming on.
I think Edwards is a big name that Painter really needs to land. He was out in L.A. watching him this weekend along with Bluiett. Getting Bluiett will be tough since two of his HS teammates in Paul Bayt and Kevin Ferrell are already at Indiana, but I feel like Painter needs to close the deal with Edwards. He would be an extremely valuable player to get and I know Purdue fans would love to get him.