Purdue football picked up a late portal addition on Tuesday as former Illinois outside linebacker Trey Smith was announced as being signed by the Boilermakers.

Smith was a three-star recruit in the 2023 class, signing with Illinois out of high school. He was a recruit for then-Illini staffers Ryan Walters, Kevin Kane and Joe Dineen in Champaign. Smith held other offers from Penn State, Arkansas, Tennessee, Iowa State, Kansas, Michigan State, Nebraska, Rutgers and others before landing with the Illini.

During his lone season in Champaign, Smith appeared in two games, but did not record a state and maintained his redshirt.

Purdue now adds Smith to a revamped rush ends group under the direction of Joe Dineen, who also added CJ Madden (Georgia), Shitta Sillah (Boston College) and Jireh Ojata (Franklin) out of the transfer portal, along with sophomore standout Will Heldt.

After the abrupt transfer of incoming freshman DJ Allen, the Boilermakers were looking to add more depth at the position, which now comes in the form of Smith. Purdue now has another body in the room that has potential to be an athletic option off the edge in the Air Strike defense.