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By the year 2174 there will be a Purdue sports team composed entirely of Anthrops. In recent years they have become the first family of Purdue. Dru Anthrop was a 4-year basketball walk-on. Danny Anthrop set records at Lafayette Central Catholic with 51 touchdowns in 2011 and over 100 in his career. Today’s player then broke those records.
Jackson Anthrop - So.
West Lafayette, IN (Lafayette Central Catholic HS)
5’11”, 185 pounds
Wide Receiver
2018 Projection: Starter at Wide Receiver
Jackson had an amazing career at Central Catholic. He scored 105 total touchdowns in four years, including 55 in 2015 while rushing for 2,247 yards and playing defensive back. He was First Team All-State at Running back, receiver, AND defensive back, but we kind of expect that from an Anthrop. He won football state championships in 2012 and 2015, and also helped win a baseball state championship in 2013 by scoring a run in a 4-3 win over Vincinnes Rivet.
According to his bio, both of his parents (his dad played on the 1980 Final Four team), two aunts, two uncles, and his older brothers are all Purdue grads, so there was little surprise he ended up here. After redshirting in 2016 he had a breakout game in his very first career action against Louisville last season. He caught 7 passes for 82 yards and two touchdowns in the season opener. He finished the year with 47 receptions for 423 yards and 5 touchdowns while rushing for 17 yards and two more scores. Both rushing scores came on jet sweeps against Indiana to bring the Bucket back home.
Oh, and to totally show that Anthrops are badasses, he even threw a 24 completion to David Blough in the game against Michigan. He also returned two kickoffs for 47 yards, 17 punts for 30 yards, had 517 total yards (4th on the team), and sold me 4 Boiler Golds over the course of the season.
All Jackson does is score touchdowns. He already has 7 to big brother Danny’s career 10. The only player that had more touchdowns for Purdue last year was Anthony Mahoungou, who had 8.
It just seems strange that after three more seasons we’ll have to wait for another Anthrop to cheer on. According to mom Anthrop, who follows us on Twitter, the oldest brother (and black sheep Jade, who played basketball at St. Joseph’s College) already has a couple in the next generation.