Purdue gets two 'important' 2019 targets back on campus
In the middle of the 2018 recruiting cycle and with the season just days away now, Purdue carved out time on Saturday to try to make a statement to two of its most important Class of 2019 targets.
West Lafayette High School's George Karlaftis and Pioneer's Jack Kiser visited campus, in part to get a look at the Boilermaker program's newly operational football training center.
"They wanted us to see the facility and I think they also wanted to show us how important we are in their eyes, because we're in-state kids and being local, with him living right down the street and me living about 45 minutes away," Kiser said. "I think it was a good chance for them to show us how they felt about us, and show us the new facility, which is ridiculous, I might add."
For both players, Purdue is working its message of staying close to home.
"The idea of being a hometown hero, as Coach (Jeff) Brohm tells me, it really intrigues me," Karlaftis said Friday night, prior to the return visit. "I'm not originally from here, but I live here and this is where all my family is and will be for the years to come, so the idea of being that hometown hero and playing for a program that's up-and-coming right now with a new coaching staff and all that potential, it's just amazing."
Both players will have many options.
Karlaftis, a four-star Rivals.com prospect ranked in the top-100 nationally in his class, has Purdue in a tentative top three along with Michigan and Miami (Fla.). Alabama is among the slew of others who've offered.
Kiser, despite playing at a smaller school off the typical recruiting beaten path, has offers from Iowa and Indiana as well as Purdue and expects to visit Notre Dame this weekend.
Purdue will have to fight numerous other programs off to keep Karlaftis or Kiser, or both, home, but it hopes Saturday's joint visit was a step in the right direction.
"It was awesome visiting and seeing the coaches again and seeing the new facilities," Karlaftis said after the visit. "It also was kind of cool meeting a potential future teammate."
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