Senior season report: WR Abdur-Rahmaan Yaseen

The Walled Lake, Mich., native was a late addition to Purdue’s 2020 class when he flipped from Northwestern to Purdue. The 6-2, 180-pound Yaseen brings a diverse skill set and rabid work ethic to West Lafayette, where he already is enrolled and will take part in spring drills. Yaseen joins fellow Purdue Class of 2020 wideouts Maliq Carr, Marcellus Moore and Collin Sullivan in a potential-filled unit. Moore and Carr also already are enrolled.

GoldandBlack.com spoke to Alex Grignon, Yaseen’s head coach at Walled Lake Western High, to get a look back at the senior season (11-2 record) for the Rivals.com four-star prospect.

GoldandBlack.com: What type of player is Yaseen?

Grignon: Purdue is getting one of the hardest workers that I ever have coached. When people ask me about him, it is easy to throw on his highlight tape and see what he can do with the ball in his hands. But what’s more impressive is how he works. There wasn’t a PlayStation in his house, no XBox, computer games. Their idea of fun was finding a field or gym somewhere, running routes and getting faster, doing agility drills. That is what he grew up doing. And that’s what he does for fun. I was dropping him off at Powerhouse after two-a-day practices (last year) that we already lifted at. He would be there another three hours. He’s built different. He is a little more driven than most. A lot of people set goals and wanna achieve them. He sets goals and does achieve them, if that makes sense.

GoldandBlack.com: How driven is he?

Grignon: You ask him where he wants his career to go, and he’ll honestly look you in the eye and tell you he wants to put a gold jacket on and be a hall of famer one day. You can’t help but not believe it because you see him work for it.

GoldandBlack.com: Any other examples of his work ethic?

Grignon: His junior year, we lost in the quarterfinals. Got throttled. It was a cold day, 10, 15 degrees. The next Monday, he put on his tights and Under Armour, grabbed the agility ladders and cones and was on the field running routes and honing his craft. That’s all he does, is work.

GoldandBlack.com: What's his best asset on the field?

Grignon: His ability to adjust to the football may be what really separates him from other people. He is the type of receiver where the quarterback throws a rope down the field, he sticks out an arm and catches it with one hand. His ability to get his body in good position and make catches is outstanding. He has incredible body control and great hands. He makes difficult catches look easy with the way be can move. He is great in and out of his cuts. We went to Detroit King for a seven-on-seven (last summer), Jaylen Reed, who has multiple offers, was there along with Rashawn Williams, who is going to Indiana. Peny Boone was there. Abdur went down there and was unguardable.

GoldandBlack.com: Did he play any defense?

Grignon: He is as good a cornerback as you’ll find. Played special teams for us, too. Never left the field. He loves the game. He doesn’t love the attention and offers like a lot of kids who pat themselves on their back. He just loves playing.

GoldandBlack.com: What type of a senior season did he enjoy?

Grignon: He had around 1,600 receiving yards, 20 TDs, 2,000 all-purpose yards, set our single-season reception record with 86. He owns all of our single-season and career receiving records. That is three years after Cody White was here and then went to Michigan State.

GoldandBlack.com: Did he have any injuries in high school?

Grignon: No. And if he did, he wouldn’t show it, anyway. He is just tough. I may never coach someone that good again. Great feet, great hips. He’s a competitor. That’s the best way to sum him up. He wants to win. He believes he’s the best and works to be the best.

GoldandBlack.com: What type of speed does he have?

Grignon: Our quarterback had a good arm and it was hard to overthrow him.

GoldandBlack.com: What other big offers did he have?

Grignon: Michigan didn’t offer. Michigan State offered late. And Ohio State already had four guys by the spring for this class.

GoldandBlack.com: What does he like about Purdue?

Grignon: He likes the situation at Purdue. They have two stud receivers (Rondale Moore and David Bell) coming back. And here comes an unknown freshman who it sounds like they plan on playing quite a bit. He is going be the No. 3 receiver lined up on safeties and linebackers most of his freshman year. Good luck to them. He can play outside or slot. When coaches visited, it sounded like he would be the No. 3 guy.

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