Kenny Thompson
Interesting Days Ahead For College Football
Flex Protect Plus sounds like a Medicare supplemental insurance commercial you might see on MeTV. It’s a different kind of insurance, though. One that should ensure the Big Ten Conference will be well represented in the upcoming 12-team College Football Playoff. It’s also an opportunity for Purdue to perhaps build some momentum under Ryan Walters.…
Read MoreTop Ranked Baller Back For More
Not since the 1987-88 season has a Purdue men’s basketball team faced higher expectations than the 2023-24 Boilermakers. If Purdue reaches those expectations – a repeat Big Ten Conference championship, another run to a Big Ten Tournament title, the school’s first Final Four in an astounding 43 years – it will be because of a…
Read MoreKen Selects Fantasy Lineups For Purdue-IU All-Star Contest
Like so many things, the Indiana-Kentucky All-Star basketball series isn’t the same event I remember following in the 1970s and ‘80s. Some of the blame belongs to college coaches demanding the series and side events be conducted in a week’s time so that their freshmen can arrive on campus and begin summer workouts. A prime…
Read MoreWill Walters Be The Next Great Hope For Purdue Football?
At least one high school head coach has major expectations for Ryan Walters and the new Purdue football coaching staff. As part of The Athletic’s “recruiting confidential” series, high school coaches have been asked about their impressions of staffs from each of the major football conferences. The Big Ten’s number came up earlier this week.…
Read MoreFlanagan, A Profile And The Next Big Ten Coach
It was never fun for opposing centers to see Chicago Bears legend Dick Butkus lined up across the line of scrimmage. For Detroit Lions center Ed Flanagan, it was a rivalry that was played out twice a year from 1965 to 1973. Flanagan, who starred at Purdue before launching a 12-year NFL career, once described…
Read MorePurdue Players Transfer To Different Schools, Hoping For Greener Pastures
When college football’s version of musical chairs, the transfer portal, closed on April 30 there were 2,640 athletes looking for new homes according to On3.com. That number would fill the 85-man scholarship limit for 31 of the 69 Power 5 conference schools. Take away Deion Sanders and his massive cuts (56 players) at Colorado, and…
Read MorePurdue Players Drafted In 2023 NFL Draft
When Jalen Graham’s name was called by the San Francisco 49ers early Saturday evening, the linebacker became the fifth former Purdue football standout selected in Rounds 4-7 of the 2023 NFL Draft. All-American wide receiver Charlie Jones, quarterback Aidan O’Connell, tight end Payne Durham, cornerback Cory Trice and Graham gave the Boilermakers their highest representation…
Read MoreBig Ten pits conference opener against Friday Night Lights
Once upon a time, Friday nights in the fall were set aside for students and alumni to gather at their high school’s football game. Bonfires, fish frys and post-game dances helped form lifelong memories for teen-agers. Like many good things, money comes along and spoils everything. Case in point, Wednesday’s announcement by the Big Ten…
Read MoreImagine If today’s NFL Draft Went 32 Rounds
Current projections have four Purdue players being selected in the NFL Draft, which begins Thursday in Kansas City. Cornerback Cory Trice is forecast by The Athletic’s Dane Brugler to go 101st overall in Round 3 to San Francisco. Brugler has quarterback Aidan O’Connell going 109th overall in the fourth round to the Las Vegas Raiders.…
Read MoreWith the overload of information out there on NFL Draft prospects, it takes a lot to impress me.
Consider me blown away by an aptly named guide called “The Beast.” That’s the name Dane Brugler of The Athletic has given his 308-page tome that will tell you everything shy of a prospect’s favorite meal. Take Purdue quarterback Aidan O’Connell. One of six children, Brugler reveals O’Connell’s passion was basketball throughout middle school but…
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