George Karlaftis and Marvin Grant serving as Purdue's unofficial recruiters
ATLANTA – Evidence exists that especially during the football recruiting dead period, Purdue's best recruiters weren't on the football coaching staff. They exist in the already committed members of the 2019 class.
Purdue's two highest-ranked commitments of the 2019 class, currently ranked No. 21 in the nation, are making it very well known that they're still trying to attract promising talent to one of the most talked-about recruiting class in several years.
Along with Purdue's coaches' efforts during the summer months, it's been four-star defensive end George Karlaftis and four-star defensive back Marvin Grant acting as designated recruiters for Brohm's rebuilding program.
While at the Rivals100 Five-Star Challenge in Atlanta in late June, Grant confirmed to GoldandBlack.com that he's actively trying to recruit three-star safety Jalen Graham, also from Detroit, to commit to Purdue. Graham, who has an offer from Purdue among 20 others including Missouri, Minnesota, Maryland, Kentucky and Indiana, is known to be considering the Boilermakers in part due to his relationship with Grant.
"He says he likes Purdue and basically he’s just doing what I was doing in the beginning of the process," Grant said in Atlanta on June 27. "I think we've got a great chance of getting him. I know there’s people pulling on him for everything but I think we've got a good chance at him. I’m just trying to make sure this is the right place that he wants to be.”
Continue reading below
As has been reported previously with four-star receiver David Bell, some fans on social media have already begun to notice, Karlaftis has actively been recruiting Purdue targets throughout the summer.
After four-star defensive tackle prospect Jacob Bandes from California announced his offer from the Boilermakers recently, it didn't take long for Karlaftis to encourage him to keep Purdue among the top of his interested list. It was actually Karlaftis who may have turned Purdue onto his fellow four-star defensive lineman after the two attended The Opening together.
Bandes recent put Purdue in his top eight choices, though three of his five official visits are already spoken for, one of them to Illinois for its game against the Boilermakers the weekend of Oct. 13.
Continue reading below
While it's clear that the momentum of Purdue's 2017 season in Brohm's first season is the nature surrounding the beginning of a highly anticipated 2019 recruiting class for the Boilermakers, it's the players already in the class ontinuing the momentum and putting a halt to any immediate speculation that the top players already in this 2019 class are looking elsewhere.
"George is the biggest recruiter (for Purdue)," Bell said in Atlanta. "He’s the No. 1 player in Indiana right now. Every time I go on a visit and I went on a visit this past week, he will text me asking me how it went and how I felt about it. He’s in my ear the most.”
Membership Info: Sign up for GoldandBlack.com now | Why join? | Questions?
Follow GoldandBlack.com: Twitter | Facebook
More: Gold and Black Illustrated/Gold and Black Express | Subscribe to our podcast
Copyright, Boilers, Inc. 2018. All Rights Reserved. Reproducing or using editorial or graphical content, in whole or in part, without permission, is strictly prohibited.