For Ralph Bolden, Purdue was home

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The excitement was palpable when Purdue picked up the commitment of three-star athlete Ralph Bolden last week.

The Folkston (Ga.) Charlton County prospect is one of the more explosive players in the entire nation in the class of 2008. Today, Bolden detailed the reasons behind his decision and his plans for the future.

Preceding the 5-foot-10, 185-pound Bolden's commitment to Purdue was an unofficial visit with two of his high school coaches up to the West Lafayette campus. He spoke about that visit before making the decision last week, but reiterated that the visit played a key role in his decision and helped him see how he would fit in at Purdue.

"It just felt like home away from home," Bolden said. "They told me that they would use me at running back and at slot receiver. They told me they can use me at a lot of places because I am so athletic. They just told me I have the game-breaking speed and said that a lot of times they have slower running backs than me and I can change the pace."

One of the reasons Bolden initially became interested in Purdue was because two of his former teammates, linebacker DeVarro Greaves and defensive back David Pender, are now Boilermakers. After having made his decision, Bolden acknowledged that those two being in West Lafayette already aided his comfort level with the program.

"I'm excited about playing with my old teammates and playing in the Big Ten," he said. "I had a chance to talk to them afterwards. They said that was a good decision and happy about it."

Fresh off a trip to Purdue and his verbal commitment, Bolden has already scheduled a return trip. He will return to West Lafayette in early fall and be looking to experience all that comes with the game day atmosphere.

"I'm going to get some more questions answered. I don't know what, but there will probably be something," he said. "I'll be looking at the tendencies of their offense and where I can come in and help out."

Excited about his commitment to the Boilermakers, Bolden still may continue checking out other schools via official visits, but is pretty sure who he'll sign with in February.

"It will probably be Purdue, but I'm still taking visits," Bolden said. "Probably one to Wake (Forest). I'll just take a look there."

Rivals.com ranks Bolden as the No. 44 athlete in the country and the No. 39 player in the state of Georgia.

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