BOILING OVER: Football, hoops recruiting buzz and much more

Welcome to “BOILING OVER,” GoldandBlack.com’s weekly information clearinghouse, a spot for assorted bits of Purdue news, analysis and so on and so forth, intended for GoldandBlack.com members and GoldandBlack.com members only.

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PURDUE BASKETBALL RECRUITING

This week, Purdue’s holding its first two of three team camps, with a number of prospects taking part but some conflicts knocking a few prime prospects out. Notably, Trent Sisley will miss the camp because he’s in St. Louis for the Nike Elite 100.

Thursday was Purdue’s camp for small schools, with the lone notable recruit we’re aware of being on hand South Bend Washington 2026 wing Steven Reynolds, who has two older sisters headed to Purdue to play for Katie Gearlds.

Friday will be a bigger deal, headlined by 2025 forward target EJ Walker.

Brownsburg is in town Friday, and Purdue commitment Kanon Catchings is expected to be there but it should be noted that he’s just off a plane from California and soon to head out to Colorado Springs for the USA Basketball 19U team try-outs. Myles Colvin left last night for that event.

Lawrence North and Azavier Robinson are another notable on Friday. Carmel and Westfield are a few other participants, but not aware of them having any prospects at this point.

Should be some good underclassmen present.

We’ll update tomorrow.

• A quick note on Catchings: He seems to have an opportunity should he choose to pursue it to join Overtime Elite, the sub-pro, for lack of a better term, league based out of Atlanta. He could join OTE and maintain his college eligibility. Whether he makes that move or not, who knows, but the opportunity is there, as it was for Colvin a few years back.

Basketball people and those who’ve seen Overtime’s infrastructure speak highly of it, and the league will see a spike in notoriety later this month when twins Ausar and Amen Thompson are top-10 draft picks. (BN)

PURDUE FOOTBALL

• Word is that WR Corey Gammage had gone dark of late. He never did show up on campus when other players reported on May 29, but his name appeared in the Purdue directory. That should have given Purdue an idea that something was up.

Sure enough, the Marshall transfer is off to play for UCF after committing to the Boilermakers in early May. Most likely, something nefarious probably took place. I’ll let you draw your own conclusions. Regardless, Gammage is gone.

Now what?

Purdue probably will shop the portal for another wideout. It also likely will check out the JC ranks. But, don’t expect the staff to take a wideout just to take a wideout. The receiver has to be the right guy.

• Purdue still has portal WR Jahmal Edrine of Florida Atlantic. The 6-3, 210-pound target with three years of eligibility is probably a better option than Gammage. Edrine had 39 catches for 570 yards and 6 TDs last season.

• C Gus Hartwig suffered a gruesome knee injury late last season vs. Northwestern. It sounds like he’s been making progress, but there’s a chance he may not be ready for the start of the season. If for some reason Hartwig isn’t ready, Purdue would seem to have a few options at center. Josh Kaltenberger started the final three games of 2022 when Hartwig was out. The staff also could slide in Bowling Green transfer Jalen Grant, who was here for spring drills. Or, perhaps promising redshirt freshman Malachi Preciado, if he’s ready.

• Work on Ross-Ade Stadium continues, with the Tiller Tunnel being a fascinating aspect of the $45 million renovation. The tunnel will be of greater scope than I imagined. There also are plans to recognize those who played for Tiller (1997-2008) in some form. Perhaps at the base of a Tiller bust, which could be rubbed by players as they leave the tunnel and run onto the field? That would be a nice touch.

• K Ben Freehill turned the head of new special teams coach Chris Petrilli in the spring, hitting 87 percent of his “competitive” field-goal attempts. Freehill has a big range that extends to 50 yards. And there seem to be no concerns with the fact he’s never attempted a field goal in college.

PURDUE FOOTBALL RECRUITING

• Purdue will host its third camp on Friday, with roughly 150 recruits descending on West Lafayette.

Some interesting prospects will be coming through, including some younger QBs. 2025 Carroll High’s (Ft. Wayne) Jimmy Sullivan is a guy to watch, along with 2026 Bo Polston of Decatur Central High in Indy. Downer’s Grove (Ill.) North’s Owen Lansu is another promising young arm. 2025 Franklin Central’s Nevan Tutterow will be on hand, too.

There also some “famous” campers:

-2024 QB Carson Kitchel and twin brother TE Cooper Kitchel from nearby West Lafayette High are the sons of former Purdue OT Kelly Kitchel

-2025 OL Deiter Hartwig of Zionsville (Ind.) High is the younger brother of current Boiler C Gus Hartwig.

• Purdue will welcome a couple of key in-state 2024 targets for official visits this weekend: ATH Jo’Ziah Edmond and WR/S Tae Tae Johnson. Each could figure in on either side of the ball. Purdue would like Edmond as a corner and Johnson as a wideout.

Edmond has some nice offers, including from Wisconsin. He began his career at Warren Central High in Indianapolis before moving to NorthWood High in Nappanee, Ind., after the season.

Johnson told Notre Dame On3 site Blue and Gold that the Irish are the only school recruiting him as safety. The other schools recruiting him want him as a wide receiver. Notre Dame looks like the leader for the Fort Wayne North Side High star. He officially visited ND last weekend. Still, the fact he’s OV-ing has to give Purdue some hope.

• As mentioned earlier this week, Purdue didn’t make a strong effort to talk Texas WR Mason Dossett out of flipping to Baylor, where his dad also was a wideout. Dossett is dealing with some family issues that also played a factor in his decision to remain in his home state. He probably was a bit of a reach to begin with. Purdue still has 2024 Jesse Watson of East St. Louis (Ill.) High committed. Look for the staff to likely take three more wideouts to join Watson.

• OLB/ILB Elijah Groves took an OV last weekend. He announced on social media that he’ll commit August 25. He has a raft of schools he’s considering, including Purdue, Kentucky, N.C. State and Virginia Tech

• No shock to see OT Styles Prescod commit to Notre Dame. He visited Purdue in the spring.

• Purdue offered New Mexico State portal CB Syrus Dumas a few weeks ago. Don’t think the Boilermakers are interested any longer.

• S Desman Stephens will announce his commitment later today. I don’t expect it to be Purdue. Probably an ACC school.

PURDUE BASKETBALL

Summer workouts begin Wednesday. Whether Purdue has a full team on Day 1, we’ll see. Colvin is already moved in, but if he makes the 19U team, he’ll be unavoidably detained. Lance Jones is already around.

Trey Kaufman-Renn has again spent a good deal of his discretionary time on campus working out and Braden Smith can easily go back and forth.

Notable: Defensive attentiveness and acclimation to structure are going to be crucial for Colvin right away. And he’s Purdue’s only scholarship freshman. When that was the case with Carsen Edwards when he first arrived, coaches talked about him needing to understand that as the only rookie, he was bound to get more coaching attention/get yelled at more. His talent level might add another layer to that, because coaches push players harder when they’re as gifted as Colvin.

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