TGIF Awesome Purdue Smorgasbord of Sports News — January 20, 2012
Published: 20th Jan 12 7:03 am
It was a busy week for Purdue athletics. Here’s a quick summary to catch you up if you’ve been too busy watching American Idol and eating Bagel Bites:
- Even though it was reported on Wednesday morning that Tim Tibesar was chosen as the Defensive Coordinator for Purdue football, the university made this announcement official on Thursday. Tibesar is known for running a 3-4 defensive front formation, but it is not certain whether that scheme will carry-over to Purdue.
- Unfortunately, Purdue’s football roster saw two defections in the past week. First, running back Reggie Pegram has decided to return home to Texas for personal reasons and he is no longer on the team. Pegram cited a need to be close to family in his decision. Pegram was coming off a strong two touchdown performance in the bowl game and this move is surprising. It hurts Purdue’s depth in the backfield, especially since Ralph Bolden will still be recovering from his ACL for the first half of the season next year, if not longer. Secondly, offensive lineman Ken Plue has decided not to return for Purdue and, instead, declare for the NFL Draft. This is a surprising move as Plue had not played at all this last season due to a benching by Coach Hope for not taking care of his academics. Plue seemed to have lost his job during last season’s spring practices, but he did start 22 games during his freshman and sophomore years. I can’t imagine an NFL team drafting Plue based on his absence from the field since 2010, but his mammoth size (6-7, 360) may earn him a chance to be picked-up as a free agent.
- One time Purdue basketball commit Derek Willis is making his formal announcement today at his school. The 4 pm announcement is all but a lock for Willis to choose the Kentucky Wildcats over finalists Purdue, Indiana, and Louisville.
- While we’re talking class of 2013 basketball recruiting, let me leave you with a working list of potential targets for Purdue: Maverick Morgan, 6-10 PF/C from Ohio; RJ Curington, 6-5 SG from Dyer, IN/Oak Hill Academy; Alex Foster, 6-8 F from Chicago; Russel Woods, 6-8 PF from Chicago; Matthew Atewe, 6-10 PF/C from Toronto/La Jolla Prep (CA); Jack Whitman, 6-8 PF from Lexington, KY. Expect this list to change as there is still plenty of time before next fall’s signing day, but also keep in mind that Purdue may bank the scholarship for 2014.
- Purdue basketball squares off against Michigan State on Saturday at Noon. MSU will be a tough match-up for Purdue, but the Big Ten is so difficult to predict that nothing would surprise me. Coming off Tuesday’s win over Iowa, Purdue must face the following next five opponents: @MSU, Michigan, @Northwestern, Indiana, @Ohio State.
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