Katie Gearlds and Purdue have always been front and center for 2025 center Avery Gordon throughout their pursuit of the Brownsburg, Indiana, standout.

Gearlds was one of the first coaches to offer Gordon and the Purdue coaching staff has been constantly present at her high school and AAU games. That continuous pursuit from day one was too significant for the in-state talent to pass up.

"Them having that trust in me and seeing that I can be a value to the program just helped a lot and it made me really want to be able to play for them," Gordon told Boiler Upload after her commitment. "I knew Katie Gearlds had a plan for me as soon as I would walk on campus and I knew I had a place there."

"She played a huge factor in my recruitment. She was the second coach to ever offer me a scholarship. So she was just there from the get go," Gordon said. "She was one of the very first coaches to really see something in me, which gave me a lot of confidence."

The Boilermakers were able to keep one of the top recruits in their back yard home, despite stiff competition from around the country, specifically in the Big Ten. The four-star prospect, according to Prospects Nation and ESPN HoopGurlz, chose Purdue over the likes of Iowa, Michigan, Ohio State and others.

While those potential suitors were tempting, Gordon decided to head about an hour north to West Lafayette for her college career, which played a large part in why she chose the Boilermakers.

"It feels really good and it feels even more special since I'm an Indiana kid and I grew up in Indiana and so it's really exciting," Gordon said.

"My family is really important to me, so being able to be close to family, only an hour away and being able to play schools that are close to home is really, really important to me. That helped a lot with making my decision to go there," Gordon said.

With academics being another key factor for Gordon, Gearlds also got some help from former Boilermaker and 2008 Indiana Miss Basketball winner, Brittany Rayburn. The 2,000+ point scorer for Purdue spoke to Gordon about the academic opportunities that her alma matter presented, most notably in the veterinary field, which Gordon is looking to pursue.

All of those factors were on top of the opportunity to join a program that Gordon believes is on the rise under Katie Gearlds. Purdue's newest pledge looked at where the Boilermakers were when Gearlds took over in 2021 and how they have taken steps forward over the last two season and wanted in on the action.

"It's impressive what she was able to do in her first year and with players that she didn't necessarily recruit herself," Gordon said. "That just tells me how good of a coach she is. How she was able to use what she had and make everyone better and help everyone work together and get the ball rolling."

Gordon joins a host of fellow in-state recruits that will be calling West Lafayette home the next several years, including 2024 guard Jordyn Poole, 2025 forward Kira Reynolds, and the highly-touted trio of Amiyah Reynolds, Rashunda Jones and Mila Reynolds in the class of 2023. The newest Boilermaker commit is eager to share the floor with her future teammates at Purdue.

"I just feel like Katie Gearlds is making a lot of things better with some of the recruits she's getting that I've played with before and I would like to play with again in the college setting. So, I'm really looking forward to the future," Gordon said.

Most notably, Gordon will be teaming up with fellow 2025 commit Kira Reynolds, who also committed to Purdue earlier this week. Purdue is enamored by the idea of having a front court of Reynolds at the four and Gordon at the five in 2025, and so is Gordon.

She has experience sharing the floor with another difference maker in the post, having played with 2024 Indiana commit Faith Wiseman on the AAU circuit, and having loads of success. Gordon thinks the combination of her and Reynolds will be no different.

"I feel like me and Kira can kind of do that too, you know, just be kind of unstoppable together," Gordon said. "I feel like we can become a really good duo."

That duo will be joined by current freshman Mary Ashley Stevenson, 2024 front court commits Lana McCarthy and Kendall Puryear and current sophomore Mila Reynolds to make up the paint for Katie Gearlds in 2025.

With all of the incoming talent that is headed for West Lafayette over the next few years, Gordon thinks the Boilermakers are capable of big things if they can piece it all together.

"We're getting a lot of talent and I feel like if we all work together, I feel like we can really start competing against the other Big Ten teams and hopefully we can start competing for the Big Ten title," Gordon said.

Gordon identifies as a back to the basket type of big, who uses her 6'6" frame to bully defenders in the paint. While she is actively working on improving her perimeter play on both offense and defense, Gordon knows her bread and butter.

"I would say I pride myself most in back to the basket stuff, like I want to get better on the outside stuff, but I've definitely over the years focused on myself as a post player, you know, working on those moves, finishing through contact," Gordon said. "I feel like it gives me a chance to use my height and my size really well and I feel like I can have an advantage over people."

Similar to the likes of Zach Edey and Isaac Haas for Purdue men's basketball head coach Matt Painter, Gordon is sometimes penalized for her size and constantly takes beatings in the paint. Although, Director of Indiana Elite Girls Basketball (Gordon's AAU program) Eric Schellhammer says the future Boilermaker has learned to adapt.

"She's adjusted well to it. I mean, she doesn't get down on herself. She gets frustrated, but she just understands she has to do some different things, because she doesn't get the normal call that a guard gets," Schellhammer said.

As she continues to draw attention in the paint, Gordon has improved as a facilitator and makes the right play with the ball in her hands more times than not.

"One of her positives is that she's a great passer," Schellhammer said. "She passes well because she just gets beat up and she sees a lot of double teams."

Gordon is still looking to improve her outside game, whether that be guarding small post players on defense or expanding her arsenal on offense. That area of her game is the main thing she wants to improve upon before getting on campus in two years.

"On defense being able to guard those fours and guards that are pretty quick and be able to use my size," Gordon said. "Also becoming more with threat in the offensive outside game. You know, if there's a shot I want to be able to be more confident and take that three pointer or mid range."

Schellhammer has seen Gordon's improvements on the court that turned her into a top 50 recruit in the class of 2025 and knows she will fit in with the Boilermakers both on and off the court during her career in West Lafayette.

"Most importantly, she's a good kid. She's super nice. She has good head on her shoulders and just embodies everything that Purdue stands for and what Katie's trying to build," Schellhammer said.