Purdue Football Recruiting: Goings on in the State

Don’t let the fact that Purdue has dominated a liberal arts college in the Southern region of the state distract you from the fact that they also plan on locking down the state in football recruiting as well.

Here is a brief rundown of in-state recruiting goings on:

Larry Tracy Back Backs Away From Iowa Commitment:

Look, occasionally teams like Michigan and Ohio State are going to swoop into Indiana and pull out some of the best talent. That talent is often under utilized at those programs (maybe I’ll write about that one day) but the bright lights and khaki pants and opulently adorned visitors locker rooms certainly have a pull. It’s not ideal, but it happens.

Purdue has to kick Iowa out of the state of Indiana, because while losing talent to the Buckeyes and Wolverines is excusable, letting Iowa come into the state and set up shop is not.

In the 2018 recruiting class, Iowa snuck into the state and ran off with some of the premier talent. 3* RB Tyrone Tracy, Decatur Central(Larry’s cousin), 3* S Julius Brents, Warren Central, and 3* DB D.J. Johnson, North Central all left the state for what they must have considered the greener cornfields of Iowa.

It appeared that 3* DB Larry Tracy out of Decatur Central was also on his way to the land of stagnant offense and corn after verbally committing to Iowa last year, but Tracy has backed away from that verbal commitment in order to reassess his options, and Purdue is certainly one of his options.

Tracy is the top rated DB in state, and is currently ranked 10th overall. I think he’s going to be a top priority in this class, and I expect Coach Poindexter to work hard to secure his commitment.

He also has offers from schools like Indiana and Minnesota, but the fact that Purdue knocked off Indiana, Minnesota and Iowa in Brohm’s first season has to play well in the Tracy camp. Add in the fluid depth chart in the Boilermaker secondary and Tracy will have a lot to think about in regards to Purdue.

Purdue Going Hard After Sampson James:

Purdue had 4* running back Sampson James, out of Avon, Indiana. Purdue will add at least 1 and possibly 2 backs in the 19’ class, and you’ve got to think James will be their top priority. The 6’1, 210 pound back (as a junior in high school) is already grown man size, and has a grown man game to match.

He’s a guy that Michigan and Ohio State are both after, but Purdue is going to give it a run nonetheless and hope that they can convince James to use his talents for good instead of evil.

Then there is Notre Dame, who just jumped into the mix as well. Notre Dame tends to ignore in-state talent and does most of their recruiting on a national level (they signed 1 Indiana player last year). James, however, is the type of talent that catches your attention, and they extended an offer last weekend.

So anyway, Purdue is going up against Ohio State, Michigan, Notre Dame, and a host of other schools for Sampson’s signature. In the past, I would quietly mark him off my board and move on, but Purdue has the type of recruiting momentum, prolific offense, and young and energetic assistant coaches that can pull off an upset or two in the recruiting world.

Purdue isn’t the favorite for James, but they’re still in the running, and that’s an important place to be.

Purdue Offers Pancol:

Purdue decided to pull the trigger on an offer to one of the more interesting recruits in the state of Indiana.

Eli Pancol out of Pendleton, Indiana doesn’t get the publicity like David Bell and Bryce Kirtz, but he’s a similar level of athlete. He’s a legit 6’4 - 6’5 target who can go up and get the ball. Purdue added a similar target in Kory Taylor for the 18’ class, and will sign another tall deep ball option in the 19’ class. Brohm loves to attack throw the ball deep to tall receivers, and Pancol is really good at getting deep and being tall. It seems like a solid fit.

When Pancol is running down deep passes like a frisbee dog, he his starring on the hardwood for Pendleton Heights. He leads the Arabian’s in rebounding and is one of their primary scorers. He can also dunk the bejesus out of a basketball, which is a helpful skill to have if your planning on outjumping defensive backs for deep passes.

At Purdue, sometimes recruiting is about finding the best possible clay for the coaches to mold into the players they want, and Pancol is pretty interesting clay. I really like this offer, and think getting in early with Pancol bodes well for the Boilermakers.