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Like a late ’90s hip-hop artist, the Purdue linebacking corps is all about the Bentley.
That would be senior LB Ja’Whaun Bentley, who was with fifth on the team in tackles last season, despite missing three games due to injury. Sophomore Markus Bailey is the unit’s best player, and the greatest talent, but Bentley is the unit’s senior leader and thus the guy selected to attend B1G Media Days.
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Purdue Boilermakers defender Danny Ezechukwu has a lot of starts at linebacker under his belt, but this year will see him transition to defensive end, or possibly a defensive end/linebacker hybrid. The Boilermakers have much more depth at linebacker than they do on the defensive line, so Ezechukwu is making the transition to help satisfy team needs.
Beyond the collective good, it’s also of individual benefit because the NFL Draft has trended towards further emphasizing DE/OLB hybrids as prospects.
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New Purdue Boilermakers Head Coach Jeff Brohm comes off as an all business, no frills kind of guy. Conversing with him you get the impression that if he wanted to channel more energy into having more memorable media skills, he could. By design though, he’d rather channel that energy into the nuts and bolts of his job.
Brohm is way more about Xs and Os than branding, but you can tell who could be the salesman type if it interested him. He’s truly an offensive guru as a man who played for six different teams during his seven year NFL career. The cradle of quarterbacks is now lead by a guy who’s been a QB coach at five different institutions.
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Purdue Boilermakers quarterback David Blough was the Big Ten Conference Leader in touchdown passes and passing yards per game last season. Not many people know that, and perhaps you had to read that sentence two or three times before it truly sunk in. For his final year in West Lafayette, Blough will be coached by Jeff Brohm, an offensive guru and former NFL quarterback.
Brohm played for six different teams during his seven year NFL career, and he’s been a QB coach at five different institutions.
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It’s another national title or bust kind of season for Ohio State football. All the college football preseason preview magazines see at least a final four appearance in Columbus, with two of the three calling a national championship game appearance. Thus, it’s pretty obvious who tops our B1G power rankings pre-Media Day.
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Welcome to version 1.0 of our 2018 NBA Mock Draft. It’s never too early. For more on a given prospect, click his name where hyper-linked. That will take you to an in-depth feature piece on said player. Team needs were not taken into account, and the order was randomized for this 2018 NBA mock draft.
Enjoy!
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You’ve read all the scouting reports on Caleb Swanigan, the 6’9” Power Forward/Center out of Purdue University who was taken by the Portland Trail Blazers with the 26th overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft.
You already know the limitations of his athleticism and his defense. You’ve already heard/read about how Swanigan turns the ball over too much. On the flip side, you also know how well he rebounds and passes, what a great shooter he is for a player his size, and that he takes care of business at the free-throw line too.
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Matt Painter’s Purdue basketball team, along with everybody else participating in the B1G/ACC Challenge, learned their draw today. Purdue will host Louisville, in a rematch of last year’s contest won by the Cardinals, 71-64, at the arena with a name too stupid for us to cite here.
Game date, time, and television details will be announced later this summer. The 18th edition of the B1G/ACC Challenge doesn’t have a true headliner, nor a definitive undercard leader. Or to put it in WWE terms, we don’t really know the Heavyweight championship belt bout, and the Intercontinental title tilt. However, Purdue-Louisville be as big, if not bigger than all on the slate.
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If you’re growing bored from the college sports offseason, take heart in the fact that we’re actually not that far off from the B1G Kickoff Luncheon. Pretty soon you might be asking yourself “what are the expectations for Purdue football in 2017?”
Well as Meredith said in The Talented Mr. Ripley, “You should always save pain for daylight.” Thus, if you’re a Purdue football fan, hopefully you’re reading this while the sun is still up.
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It’s official, via a release sent out by the school, Caleb Swanigan will not be returning to Purdue, and instead remains in the NBA Draft. This move by Biggie was expected, but it didn’t get announced until the final decision day, and at time that was about as late as possible. Caleb Swanigan himself broke the news via his Twitter account.
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Purdue basketball returns to the Bradley Center, the site which witnessed the Boilermakers clinching a Sweet 16 berth, this past March. Purdue will face Marquette in the Gavitt Tipoff Games, otherwise known as FOX Sports’ answer to ESPN’s B1G/ACC Challenge. The schools sent out the Gavitt Games info just now, although it’s somewhat moot today, given how the schools handed over the news to a TV network four days ago.
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Isaac Haas has withdrawn his name from the NBA Draft and will return to Purdue for his senior season.
This according to a release sent out by the school.
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