{"id":47791,"date":"2024-04-15T12:37:36","date_gmt":"2024-04-15T17:37:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/?p=47791"},"modified":"2024-04-15T12:37:36","modified_gmt":"2024-04-15T17:37:36","slug":"ryan-walters-readies-for-opening-of-transfer-portal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/ryan-walters-readies-for-opening-of-transfer-portal\/","title":{"rendered":"Ryan Walters readies for opening of transfer portal"},"content":{"rendered":"

MORE:\u00a0Spring football content portal<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Brace yourself: The transfer portal opens this week. Ryan Walters<\/a><\/strong> is ready.<\/p>\n

The second-year Purdue coach no doubt has some holes he\u2019d like to fill on his roster now that he\u2019s getting a good look at his team in spring football, which wraps up this week with practices on Tuesday and Thursday after playing a spring game yesterday<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Without a doubt, Purdue will be looking for a punter and long-snapper. As for other needs<\/a><\/strong>? The program could be in the market for a rush end, star (CB\/S), tight end, defensive lineman and maybe a running back.<\/p>\n

In addition to adding players, Walters also anticipates some current players (four or five, perhaps?) on his roster jumping into the portal when it opens for 15 days on Monday (April 15-30).<\/p>\n

\u201cWho knows, right?\u201d said Walters. \u201cIt\u2019s like Wall Street, right? You just kind of gotta go with the market. I\u2019m sure we\u2019ll get surprised and have some guys enter the portal that we didn\u2019t anticipate. And I\u2019m sure everyone across the country is thinking the same thing. <\/p>\n

\u201cI do like our locker room right now. And I feel like we\u2019ve got a good grasp on who everybody is and what people\u2019s roles are. I think the locker room likes being here and likes the way the program is structured. But, you know, who knows?\u201d<\/p>\n

Purdue added 14 scholarship players <\/a><\/strong>from the portal when it was open for 30 days from December-January. Several of those look primed to play big roles this fall, including rush ends C.J. Madden<\/a><\/strong> and Shitta Sillah<\/a><\/strong>, wideouts C.J. Smith<\/a><\/strong>, De\u2019Nylon Morrissette<\/a><\/strong> and Kam Brown<\/a><\/strong>, offensive linemen Corey Stewart<\/a><\/strong> and DJ Wingfield<\/a><\/strong>, running back Reggie Love<\/a><\/strong> and cornerbacks Nyland Green<\/a><\/strong> and Kyndrich Breelove,<\/a><\/strong> among others.<\/p>\n

\u201cNight and day,\u201d said Walters when asked to describe how his program is different from this time last year to now. \u201cI think the biggest difference from a mental makeup standpoint is just there\u2019s no egos. There aren\u2019t any selfish individuals and everybody understands what we\u2019re trying to get accomplished and works their tail off to get that done. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe also just have a lot more depth. We\u2019ve gotten bigger, stronger, gotten faster. And the standard is a lot higher than it was a year ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

When the portal was open in the winter, the Boilermakers saw 23 scholarship players jump in, including stalwarts like WR Deion Burks<\/a><\/strong> and OLB Nic Scourton<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p>\n

If players opt to leave, Walters understands.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a different day and age and you can\u2019t take things personal when people decide to make decisions that they feel are in the best interest of themselves,\u201d said Walters. \u201cYou just got to be able to adapt and adjust to the landscape, and we\u2019ll be ready for whatever transpires and we\u2019ll take advantage of the rules and make sure that we\u2019re putting together the best roster possible to go chase a championship come fall.\u201d<\/p>\n

How does Walters\u2013coming off a 4-8 debut\u2013deal with his players when it comes to the portal?<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are just transparent, open and honest,\u201d said Walters. \u201cI\u2019m an open book. I\u2019m not trying to hide anything. So, very candid conversations and I think as long as you\u2019re operating in truth and transparency, you can live with whatever decisions are made.\u201d<\/p>\n

Walters is braced for surprises that may come in portal season. Does his heart sink when a player asks to speak with him in his office?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt depends on what player, right?\u201d said Walters. \u201cI think a year ago, I was a little anxious about this time of year and what potentially could happen. But now, being just inundated with the program and with the landscape, it is what it is, and we\u2019ll be fine. Purdue will be fine. <\/p>\n

\u201cSo, we got a lot of people that care about the place that help the cause in terms of donating to the collective (Boilermaker Alliance). We still need guys to donate and I think that\u2019ll happen and so I feel good about where we\u2019re at and where we\u2019re headed.\u201d<\/p>\n

The post Ryan Walters readies for opening of transfer portal<\/a> appeared first on On3<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MORE:\u00a0Spring football content portal Brace yourself: The transfer portal opens this week. Ryan Walters is…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47791","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47791","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47791"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47791\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47820,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47791\/revisions\/47820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47791"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47791"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}