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An interesting name on the recruiting front came to the fore this weekend as Purdue hosted possible transfer Zach Price. Price was a member of the National Championship Louisville Cardinals squad this past season and is a very promising big man that would be a huge addition to the roster. He announced his intention transfer earlier this spring:
Say what you will about Price's on-court play, the kid was a world-class teammate. After going from starting early in the season when Gorgui went down to not seeing the floor at all from mid-January on, he could have easily pouted and become a distraction to the rest of the team. Instead, he always appeared enthusiastic and was as animated on the bench as any Cardinal on the roster. I truly believe you have to have those types of guys in order for a team to hit its ceiling.
Price would be a Junior eligibility-wise, having played in only 16 games this season as a sophomore. He started seven, however. One of his better games was a four point, three rebound effort against Duke on November 24 in which he played a season high 19 minutes. After Gorgui Dieng returned, however, his minutes dropped off dramatically. Price played in only two games after January 12. He played sparingly as a freshman in 2011-12, so he only has 25 total games of experience.
Former #Louisville center Zach Price has interest in transferring to #Purdue after visiting campus. http://t.co/8OYBOeV7DA
— Chris Emma (@CEmmaFOX) June 22, 2013
Still, he was a talented freshman center on a loaded team that won that national title. In the recruiting class of 2011 He was rated No. 57 nationally as a 6'10", 230 pound center. He would likely come to Purdue as A.J. Hammons insurance. He would have to sit out a season and would have two years left starting in 2014-15. That makes him a valuable practice player to bang against Hammons and Jay Simpson this year. It is, therefore, likely he would take up Purdue's lone remaining scholarship for the coming year while he sat out due to transfer rules.
His numbers aren't great, but he sounds like a good teammate and it is never a bad thing to get a top 100 player nationally. He would be higher rated than anyone Purdue got in the recruiting class of 2011, which was Donnie Hale and the now-departed Jacob Lawson.
Hopefully his visit went well this weekend. He would be a great addition to the Boilermakers.