Cradle of QB Papa Bob DeMoss on List; Cheating DOES Pay
Before there was such a thing as the “Den of Defensive Ends” at Purdue, one of their future members was a 6-foot-7 giant who was so fleet of foot that he also was a favorite target of quarterback Len Dawson in the mid-1950s.
Two other Den of Defensive End members are included in this week’s countdown of the best Boilermakers by number. Also profiled this week is a Rose Bowl hero, the first John Mackey Award winner and two passers who prospered in an era of three yards and a cloud of dust.
81
Lamar Lundy
The Richmond native was the first African-American student athlete to receive a scholarship from Purdue.
Standing 6-7, Lundy’s other firsts include being voted team MVP as a senior in both football and basketball. He is one of two athletes enshrined in both the Indiana Basketball and Indiana Football Hall of Fame.
Lundy led Purdue in receiving as a senior in 1956 and was a two-time second-team All-Big Ten selection. Drafted by the Los Angeles Rams as a receiver, Lundy was soon shifted to defensive end. He teamed up with Deacon Jones, Merlin Olsen and Roosevelt Grier to form the “Fearsome Foursome.”
Lundy played 13 seasons in the NFL before being diagnosed with myasthenia gravis.
82
John Standeford
The odds would have been mighty long in 2000 to predict a tall, skinny wide receiver from Monrovia, Ind., would leave Purdue as the all-time Big Ten Conference leader in receptions (266) and receiving yards (3,788).
Teammate Taylor Stubblefield would later become the NCAA career leader in receptions (325) in 2004, and fellow Boilermaker Dorien Bryant surpassed Standeford as well with 292 catches from 2004-07.
As a junior, Standeford was a semifinalist for the Biletnikoff Award as the nation’s outstanding receiver while earning first-team All-Big Ten honors after catching 75 passes for a school record 1,307 yards and a school record-tying 13 touchdowns. As a senior, Standeford added 77 receptions for 1,150 yards and four touchdowns.
83
Forest Farmer
Farmer was part of Purdue’s emphasis on recruiting the state of Ohio in the late 1950s and into the late 1960s under Jack Mollenkopf, who coached Toledo Waite to three national high school championships in the 1940s before coming to West Lafayette.
“When we played Ohio State my sophomore year, we started nine Ohioans; they started eight,” Farmer recalled in a 2002 interview.
That year, 1960, Farmer was selected United Press International’s Offensive Player of the Week after making four catches for 69 yards and recording two sacks in Purdue’s 23-14 upset of No. 1 Minnesota. Farmer also helped Purdue defeat No. 3 Ohio State and No. 12 Notre Dame that season.
“The Minnesota game was the greatest game we played that year and one of the greater games I played in my career,” Farmer said.
84
Leo Sugar
The son of Polish immigrants, Sugar chose Purdue in 1948 over Notre Dame and Michigan State after starring at Flint (Mich.) Northern High School.
Sugar became a consensus All-American defensive end and first-team All-Big Ten as a senior in 1951. Purdue coach Stu Holcomb called Sugar “the best defensive end I ever coached.” Decades later, Sugar would become a member of Purdue’s Den of Defensive ends.
He went on to play nine seasons in the NFL, earning Pro Bowl honors in 1958 and 1960. Sugar was inducted into the Leroy Keyes Purdue Athletics Hall of Fame in 2006.
85
Keena Turner
The Fred Sanford of Purdue’s “Junk Defense” in the late 1970s, Turner led Purdue in tackles for loss for three consecutive seasons. In that streak was a then-school record 25 as a junior in 1978.
The Den of Defensive Ends member helped Purdue compile a 19-4-1 record during his final two seasons under Hall of Fame coach Jim Young. Turner was inducted into the Leroy Keyes Purdue Athletics Hall of Fame in 2006.
Switched to outside linebacker by the San Francisco 49ers, Turner played 11 seasons in the NFL. He earned Super Bowl rings in 1981, 1984, 1988 and 1989.
86
George Catavalos
Catavalos was a three-year starting defensive back from 1964-66 who is best remembered for his interception in the end zone that denied Southern California the go-ahead two-point conversion in the 1967 Rose Bowl.
He spent 17 years in college coaching, including a stint at Purdue from 1971-76. Catavalos joined the Indianapolis Colts’ coaching staff when the team moved from Baltimore in 1984. He was with the Colts from 1984-93 and 1998 to 2001. Catavalos spent 28 seasons as an NFL assistant coach.
87
Bob DeMoss
The father of Purdue’s Cradle of Quarterbacks, DeMoss launched the modern era of Boilermaker football when he led Purdue to a 35-13 victory at No. 4 Ohio State as a freshman in 1945.
After starting for four seasons, DeMoss spent a year in the NFL with the New York Bulldogs before embarking on a 42-year tenure at Purdue as an assistant coach (1950-69), head coach (1970-72) and assistant athletic director (1973-92). His quarterback pupils included Dale Samuels, Len Dawson, Bob Griese, Mike Phipps and Gary Danielson.
DeMoss was inducted into the Leroy Keyes Purdue Athletics Hall of Fame in 1999.
88
Cecil Isbell
While technically a halfback, Isbell was Purdue’s first great passer. He was also an excellent runner and in 1936 was responsible for 15 of Purdue’s 23 touchdowns.
Voted an All-American as a senior in 1937, Isbell gained acclaim months later for leading the College All-Stars past the Washington Redskins 28-16. He was voted the game’s Most Valuable Player.
During his brief NFL career with the Green Bay Packers, Isbell led the team to the 1939 title and teamed up with Hall of Fame receiver Don Hutson to set NFL passing records in 1941 and 1942. Shockingly, Isbell retired after throwing for an NFL record 24 touchdowns and 2,021 yards to return to Purdue as an assistant coach in 1943. A year later he was promoted to head coach and went 14-14-1 before accepting the head coaching position with the Baltimore Colts.
Isbell was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1967.
89
Tim Stratton
The first winner of the John Mackey Award as the nation’s best tight end, Stratton left Purdue in 2001 with a school record 204 receptions.
Stratton also was a three-time first-team All-Big Ten selection, joining a select group of Boilermakers (Bob Hadrick, Chuck Kyle and Rod Woodson) to accomplish that feat.
He left Purdue with 2,088 receiving yards and 15 touchdowns as one of Drew Brees’ go-to receivers.
90
Ryan Baker
A four-star defensive lineman for Indianapolis Bishop Chatard, Baker was the subject of an intense recruiting battle with Notre Dame. Baker initially committed to the Fighting Irish in January 2004 but declined to sign a letter of intent. Finally he chose Purdue in March.
A three-year starter for the Boilermakers, Baker overcame the odds as an undrafted free agent to spend parts of four seasons with the Miami Dolphins.
Who says cheaters never prosper?
Purdue’s Matt Painter is ranked 16th among The Athletic’s top 25 college basketball coaches of the quarter century.
Painter’s rating is aided in no small part by the improved recruiting over the last decade that brought the likes of Caleb Swanigan, Carsen Edwards, Jaden Ivey, Zach Edey and Braden Smith to West Lafayette.
“Similar to John Beilein, Painter is a coach who trusts his eye in recruiting and finds gems like Zach Edey, the 436th-ranked player in his recruiting class,” The Athletic’s CJ Moore writes. “Painter has adjusted his style to his personnel, but he’s also willing to build differently than everyone else. In the recent era, he has built Purdue through big men when everyone else has tried to shoot a bunch of 3-pointers. (His teams usually are good at that too.) He’s also bet on high school recruiting rather than living in the transfer portal.
“Painter is in the middle of his prime right now, reaching 10 straight NCAA Tournaments and three of the last four Sweet 16s. In 25 years, don’t be surprised if he’s even higher, especially if he’s able to break through and win a national title. His next team is No. 1 in my preseason rankings.”
But what struck me about the list was the number of coaches that, to put it mildly, have bent or flat out broken NCAA rules in the time period before what I call “Now It’s Legal” or as it’s better known as NIL.
The two coaches atop The Athletic’s list, Bill Self of Kansas and Roy Williams formerly of Kansas and North Carolina, have had their issues with the NCAA. Self’s program was put on three years probation and lost scholarships in 2023 in the aftermath of the FBI investigation into corruption in college basketball. The Jayhawks’ 2018 Final Four appearance and Big 12 regular season and tournament titles were vacated by the NCAA.
Williams approved player gifts of cash and clothing from Kansas boosters from 2001-03, having the nerve to tell the NCAA he thought that was legal. Williams avoided NCAA sanctions at North Carolina for academic fraud.
At No. 5, Rick Pitino started young. At the beginning of his career, Pitino was cited for eight recruiting violations while an assistant at the University of Hawaii. He lost his job at Louisville when the NCAA found the program had been providing escorts for potential recruits as well as a play-for-play plan.
John Calipari, ranked eighth, remains in a class of his own. His Final Four appearances at Massachusetts and Memphis were wiped out of existence by NCAA violations. He nearly pulled off the cheating Triple Crown at Kentucky, avoiding sanctions due to a grade change in a high school Algebra class that allowed star Eric Bledsoe to become eligible.
Calipari’s repeat offenses angered Indiana legend Bob Knight. “We’ve got a coach at Kentucky who put two schools on probation and he’s still coaching,” Knight said at an Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame function. “I really don’t understand that. We’ve gotten into this situation where integrity is really lacking and that’s why I’m glad I’m not coaching.”
Kelvin Sampson at No. 10 is an NCAA repeat offender at Oklahoma and Indiana.
Connecticut’s Jim Calhoun (13th) was suspended three games in 2012 for failure to maintain an atmosphere of compliance and recruiting violations.
Jim Boeheim (1th) was suspended nine games in 2015 for NCAA violations involving academic misconduct, extra benefits and Syracuse University’s drug testing policy.
Bruce Pearl (20th) was given a three-year show cause by the NCAA for violations at Tennessee. Pearl lied about inviting then-high school junior Aaron Craft to his home during an unofficial visit and then asking those in attendance to keep it a secret. Pearl is also a four-letter word to Illinois fans for turning in the Fighting Illini for recruiting violations involving Deon Thomas while an assistant at Iowa.
Five Level I NCAA violations at Arizona cost Sean Miller (24th) his job in 2021. That didn’t bother his former employer, Xavier, which rehired him following the 2021-22 season. Miller is now coaching at Texas.
One of the clean coaches on the list was former Butler head man Brad Stevens, ranked 11th despite just being on the college sidelines for six years.
Kenny Thompson is the former sports editor for the Lafayette Journal & Courier and an award-winning journalist. He has covered Purdue athletics for many years.