The Weekly Word is GoldandBlack.com's weekly, obviously, column covering Purdue football, basketball and recruiting, as well as college sports issues, the true meaning of life, or whatever other topics might come to mind in a given week.

If you're like me, you've often thought of Lafayette, Ind., or more broadly, Tippecanoe County, as a sort of cradle of civilization.

Or perhaps not.

But with Purdue's recruiting lately, all roads have pointed back to our beloved gateway to Central Illinois.

Purdue started the class with Fletcher Loyer, whose mother grew up in Lafayette; most recently it added Camden Heide, whose father grew up in Lafayette. Next, perhaps Myles Colvin, whose father came of age at Purdue back In the '90s .

During a recruiting years in which so many were confined to their homes, Purdue caught a funny break as it turned out that for a couple of prime targets, Purdue already kinda sorts was home, or at least for a segment of their families.

Funny how things work out and maybe they work out well for Purdue, because investment matters, both ways.