Class of 2018 visit slate starts for Purdue this weekend
This weekend, official visit season again starts early for Purdue, as Boilermaker coaches host two important Class of 2018 targets for mid-summer official visits.
Wing Robby Carmody — perhaps Purdue's long-standing Class of 2018 target — and center Emmanuel Dowuona are each in West Lafayette this weekend for their first official visits.
Dowuona, a native of Ghana who now resides in Miami, is a 6-foot-10, 220-plus center who holds offers from Miami (Fla.), Virginia, Southern Cal, Georgia Tech, USF and others, but has indicated he's particularly drawn to Purdue's academics in addition to its reputation developing big men.
Here's what Dowuona said about Purdue in April at the Under Armour Association event in Fishers, shortly after he hosted an in-home visit with Boilermaker coaches: "They just told me how great their school is. Academically, I've done my research and I know the school is a pretty good school. They've proven it to me and I've seen it. Now I have to make the plans to see when I'm going to visit the school, maybe in June, to look at the school, things like that, and hopefully make a good decision to go there or not go there."
More ($): Full Dowuona update from April
Dowuona is also expected to make unofficial visits to Miami and Florida Gulf Coast this summer, according to his high school coach, Jose Amat.
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Carmody, a Rivals.com top-100-ranked player, will be making the first of three June official visits, the others planned for Notre Dame and Michigan, the next two weekends, respectively. It then may be most likely he'll play out July with two more official visits to take should he so choose. He's not lacking for options, given his extensive and national-in-scope list of offers.
"I want to sign early," Carmody said at the adidas Gauntlet qualifier event in Chicago last month, "so (the official visits are) just about getting an idea of what's out there."
Carmody acknowledged that the three June visits could be the only three he needs. He's in an uncommon position in recruiting because he's taken perhaps more extended trips for unofficial visits than any player in the country, including at least four to Purdue in only a little more than two years.
"It's possible," Carmody said of the possibility that he could choose from the three schools he visits in June. "That's why I'm leaving two open, just in case."
Official visits in June, or even earlier, are nothing new to Purdue.
Two summers ago, it brought guard Carsen Edwards in mid-summer and ultimately signed him. Last summer, big man and eventual Marquette signee Theo John visited in June. In the spring of 2013, Dakota Mathias made his official visit in May.
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