Boilermaker DB target visited twice in a matter of days
More ($): Fort Wayne DT and Purdue target may want to stay home
NORTHBROOK, Ill. — As has been the case with several prospects this spring, Vincent Gray visited Purdue, then came right back.
The Rivals.com three-star cornerback from Adams High School in Rochester, Mich., first visited West Lafayette for Purdue's junior day the weekend before its spring game.
Then, he was back within 72 hours. He visited again on Tuesday.
"I liked it the first time, and just wanted to see it again," Gray said at this weekend's Under Armour All-American Camp regional in Chicagoland. "I liked he coaches and the players and just wanted to be around those people. They're really high up on my list."
It might be a long list.
Gray holds 18 offers, from as far east as Syracuse to as far west as Washington State and Oregon and a whole lot of points in between, with much of the Big Ten looking closely.
But though the 6-foot-1, 180-or-so-pound DB will have many options, Purdue would seem to have distinct traction with him.
"They have a totally new staff, and this staff has been winning a lot of games at Western Kentucky and they have a great history of building good teams," Gray said. "I feel like they're going to do well there.
"They're telling me I can help turn their program around, that I can come in right away and play and that's a big deal to me. They feel like I'm the type of player that can help them (turn things around)."
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Boilermaker cornerbacks coach Derrick Jackson has struck a chord with Gray, he said.
"They talk to me like every day, Coach Jackson," Gray said. "He coached (cornerback Kevin Johnson) with the Texans and told me he can get me there, too. I feel like he knows how to coach my body type. I'm long and different from a lot of corners. They might be a good fit for me."
Gray would seem to be a good fit for Purdue in terms of the big picture of its recruiting in the secondary nowadays. This Boilermaker staff has a clear affinity for big defensive backs and has recruited accordingly.
"They want big DBs now," Gray said. "Six feet and over, that's what they told me. That's going to help them a lot with the scheme they want to run, playing press-man and bigger corners are good at that."
Gray is tall, north of 6-foot-1, that height being complemented by a vast wingspan.
"It makes things easier for me," Gray said. "I can press more easily than other corners, I can cover more ground the other corners and I have a long wingspan so I can knock away balls even if I'm not as close as other corners would have to be.
"I feel like I make them uncomfortable because they're not used to going against somebody of my body type, which is good. It's good for them to be uncomfortable."
Gray said he expects to return to West Lafayette this summer.
"I think I'm going back for their camp to get coached by Coach Jackson," he said.
That visit could come at a time when a decision might be imminent.
"I want to commit before the season," Gray said. "After spring evaluation, I'll see who's talking to me the most, then probably make a decision this summer."
Find out more about Gray as a player in the GoldandBlack.com video interview below.
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