Purdue adds Florida athlete Rickey Smith to 2021 class
Purdue's been looking for a safety prospect to add to its 2021 recruiting class, and may have gotten its man on Tuesday night, when Orlando athlete Rickey Smith committed to the Boilermakers.
"I clicked with the coaching staff really well," Smith said. "They loved me a lot. So that was No. 1. No. 2, when they took me on the virtual tour, it looked like a place I could see myself for the next four years."
For the 2021 recruiting class, there are unprecedented challenges brought on by COVID-19. Visit opportunities this spring and summer were all canceled with no end in sight. For many prospects, that might make such decisions difficult.
Smith said his decision was relatively easy. He chose Purdue over offers from Miami, Ole Miss, Missouri, West Virginia and others.
"It wasn't really hard because Purdue, they messed with me too hard," Smith said. "They called me the most. So that's why that's where my heart was."
The 6-foot-2, 190-pound Jones High School athlete plays all over his high school's defense and was recruited for a variety of positions.
Purdue will start him off at safety.
"I'm a ballhawk and I can fly to the ball," Smith said. "If you need me against the run, I can come up and stop the run, or if it's the deep ball, nothing's getting past me. I think I'm pretty versatile."
Purdue now holds nine Class of 2021 verbal commitments.
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