Early Signing Period: Purdue signs 2024 four-star forward Raleigh Burgess

The second-highest rated recruit in the 2024 class for the Boilermakers has signed his NLI and is officially headed for West Lafayette next season. Four-star forward Raleigh Burgess initially committed to Purdue on May 1st, becoming the third of five in the class.

Burgess was one of the most highly-sought after players in Purdue's 2024 haul, turning down offers from Texas, Wisconsin, Indiana, Iowa, Virginia and Ohio State, among others to join Matt Painter and the Boilermakers next season.

The Cincinnati product is a four-star recruit, the 89th ranked player in the class of 2024 and 13th best power forward in the class, according to Rivals.

As a junior at Sycamore last season, Burgess had his season cut short due to a leg injury that lingered into the summer, but was on pace to have a successful campaign. He averaged 14 points, 9.5 rebounds and 3.2 blocks per game across 11 outings. Burgess also shot 63% from the field and 30.8% from three-point range on 13 attempts.

Burgess stands 6'10" and 230 pounds ahead of his senior season and shows off a versatile repertoire at the high school level. He can guard multiple spots and is an effective rebounder. Burgess also runs the floors extremely well for his size. While he's shown the ability to step out and shoot from the perimeter, he excels in the paint, whether is be with his back to the basket or face up.

His game resembles that of current Boilermaker Caleb Furst, who has similar measurables. Burgess is a bit of a tweener at the four and five spots at the college level, similar to Furst once again, but has the tools to be effective at both positions under Matt Painter.

Burgess could emerge as one of the top options off the bench for the Boilermakers during his freshman campaign, battling the aforementioned Furst, Trey Kaufman-Renn, Brian Waddell and Camden Heide for minutes.