Sam West seems to have picked a sport.
Now, he'll have to pick a school.
It was just this past fall that the multi-sport athlete from Greensburg High School was committed to Alabama.
For baseball.
This fall, he pivoted.
"It happened over time. I got my first offer May of last year, from Iowa State, and I think didn't much of (pursuing football)," West said. "I thought I'd still play baseball. But I started getting more and more interest and thinking about it more, and it wasn't about who I'd get recruited by for football but what I'd have more fun playing, and I thought I'd have more fun playing football."
Soon as West changed his mind, though, and decided to pursue football, he visited Purdue for its home game against Minnesota. He returned later in the season for the home finale against Indiana.
A few weekends back, he returned to Purdue for its junior day.
"I definitely like the way Coach (Jeff) Brohm coaches the program," he said. "He wants to have a blue-collar sort of program that works hard and has fun at the same time. I have a good connection with Coach (Ryan) Wallace. He's a young guy, but has a lot of experience and would be a good guy to play for."
West is one of Purdue's apparent tight end priorities, even though his background at the position is limited.
The 6-foot-4, 215-pounder was a wide receiver as a sophomore at Greensburg and played quarterback as a junior.
"I'm taller and I think I've got pretty good receiver skills for my size," West said. "I don't really come from a big city and have never really been developed or trained as far as receiver or tight end goes, so I'm kind of a raw athlete that I think people see a lot of natural ability in. And I love to compete and I think schools see that, too."
""(Purdue) just said they want to develop me into a tight end that they see me as a guy who can block a little bit, but mostly run routes and make plays."
Purdue, Indiana and Rutgers are among West's early Big Ten offers, along with several MAC teams. Tennessee offered soon after West's decommitment in the fall, and Alabama has been by his school this winter. West took visits to Cincinnati, Notre Dame and Missouri last fall in addition to Purdue and Indiana.
He'll return to Purdue for another visit, he said, this spring.
"I'll probably decide sooner rather than later," West said. "I'll probably take some visits over spring break and in March and probably get to all these places, and maybe more."
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