Purdue grabbed his eighth commitment of the Class of 2015 when Richard Worship, a 6-1, 245-pound fullback/running back of Parma Heights, Ohio, decided to join the Boilermaker program. He is also the fourth running back to commit in the past 10 days.

"The No. 1 reason I committed to Purdue was academics," said Worship, who told the Purdue coaches earlier on Saturday. "But also I could tell on my visit that it's a team that really likes to hang out together. They get along well.

"And the coaches know the players' backgrounds. It's like a family."

Worship, who plans to major in communications or culinary arts, took his second trip to campus Thursday after visiting for the spring game on April 12. He was offered in late February.

Ranked by Rivals.com as a 3-star prospect and the No. 5 fullback in the nation, Worship plays at Valley Forge H.S. in the Cleveland suburb.

His first trip put Purdue ahead.

"I already had a good feeling about it, from after the first visit, but wanted to look at it again," he said. "I definitely like it there."

Before the spring evaluation period, Purdue was among those who had already seen all they needed to see of Worship, joining Toledo as the first two schools to offer.

He had also been contacted by Minnesota, which seemed particularly interested, per Worship, along with Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State and Illinois.

Among major-conference programs, Purdue got out in front, though, the first power-conference school to offer a scholarship and the host of Worship's first significant on-campus recruiting visit.

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