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Citing family considerations, lineman joins Purdue

Purdue added reinforcements on its defensive line with Monday's announcement that Langston Newton is enrolled in school after transferring from Kentucky.
Actually, two Boilermaker sports added reinforcements, as the 6-foot-4, 250-plus-pound Indianapolis area native is also expected to join Purdue's track program as a thrower, beginning immediately for this indoor season.
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For football, it's unclear as of yet whether Newton, who was a redshirt freshman at UK in 2013, will be eligible to play in 2014 or whether he'll have to wait until '15.
His father, John Newton, said the family will "look into" the possibility of seeking an immediate-eligibility waiver, "to see what that generates."
Based on the reasons for Langston Newton's transfer, as relayed by John Newton, there would be a valid claim.
John Newton said his son has moved over to Purdue in order to be closer to his Carmel home, where his 87-year-old grandfather has been recovering from a head injury sustained last fall.
"Langston's coming back close to home to help out with his grandfather," John Newton said. "He suffered an injury last fall coming back from a Kentucky game and as part of a multi-generational family, he's always lived with Langston and us. He's just like another parent to him and he's very partial to Langston. Instead of a three-hour drive, it's going to be 45 minutes to an hour.
"He'd be fine anywhere. It's definitely not an athletic thing. He'd be OK wherever he is."
Purdue emerged as Langston Newton's next stop due to proximity primarily, and it just worked out that Newton can go from his sustained agriculture major in Lexington to Purdue's renowned School of Agriculture, in which he began classes Monday.
The program's director of football operations, Tommy Cook, was on staff at Kentucky when ex-coach Joker Phillips recruited Langston Newton, so there was a tie. Phillips also recruited older brother Morgan Newton, a quarterback and former Indiana Mr. Football winner.
"We thought this could be a good thing, so we looked into, got after it and things just kind of worked out," John Newton said. "I think it's going to be great."
As a redshirt freshman, Langston Newton did not appear in any games, according to Kentucky's season statistics.
"He's been playing against SEC kind of (players in practice)," John Newton said. "He was scout team player-of-the-week for them a few weeks in a row as a redshirt (freshman) and when they prepared for South Carolina, he was (Jadaveon) Clowney, and when they prepared to play Alabama, he was their top defensive lineman. He was always the top defensive lineman for the other team (in practice).
"It didn't translate to getting him on the field because they had some older guys and the rotation wasn't very deep, but he's one of those guys who'll give 110 percent and be there every day and be a no-nonsense, high-character kind of guy. This will be good for him and the most important thing is if he needs to get home, he can."
Newton joined freshmen David Blough and offensive lineman Kirk Barron as Purdue's mid-year additions.
Should he be granted immediate eligibility, Newton would be added to a core of Boilermaker defensive ends projected to be anchored by senior Ryan Russell - depending on alignments, at least - and sophomores Evan Panfil and Jake Replogle.
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