FORT WAYNE — Purdue had Marcus Bingham Jr. on its campus for an unofficial visit when it hosted Michigan State in Mackey Arena this season. A short time later, it followed up that visit with one of its own, sending a coach north to Grand Rapids to scout him.

Then, the wiry 6-foot-9, 200-something-pound forward was a curiosity as much as anything else, back when maybe that early offer from Toledo was looking pretty good.

Since, Bingham's play this spring has scored him a slew of major scholarship offers and made his initial Rivals.com ranking of 104th nationally seem like a mere starting point, a launching pad toward bigger and better, and 104 in itself is a nice number, it should be noted.

After playing with his new Fort Wayne-based Indy Heat team on Nike's EYBL circuit during the final two weekends in April — those being the NCAA's two spring evaluation weekends — everything changed for him.