Matt Painter was sold on new Purdue recruit CJ Cox during trip to Las Vegas

After being locked for years into select guard targets for his 2024 recruiting class, Matt Painter’s trip to Las Vegas to end the July recruiting period brought about an audible.

It was there that Painter first saw CJ Cox play.

At that event to end the summer, in the final game, Cox starred as his team rallied from 14 down in the fourth, making a bunch of threes and some key late mid-range jumpers against an outstanding Indiana Elite team. Cox’s three-pointer at the buzzer forced OT, before the Flory Bidunga-led IE won, 72-70, after a two-minute overtime. Painter was there to watch guard Travis Perry, a long-time target, and wound up gravitating toward his adversary on that day. Previously in that event, Cox posted 29- and 26-point games and averaged 18.7 points over six games, shooting 51 percent and 43 percent from three-point range.

From there, the Boilermaker head coach personally recruited the Boston area prospect, leading to his official visit this past weekend, at which time Painter offered a scholarship.

The 6-foot-2, 190-pounder from Lexington, Mass., near Boston, accepted pretty much immediately. He’d previously been focused on Elon and Ivy Leaguers Penn and Princeton.

“I like playing against the best competition and I feel like it makes me a better player as well,” Cox said. “I feel like this opportunity playing at Purdue will take my game to a whole other level.”

Cox is a defensive-minded combo guard with a big, strong body, point guard capability, a reliable multi-level jump shot and a robust track record of winning, both at Milton Academy and for his Middlesex Magic grassroots program, champion of the Under Armour Association circuit this summer.

As a junior, Cox helped Milton Academy — a prep school located south of Boston — to the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council (the multi-state NEPSAC) Class A championship, beating previously undefeated St. Sebastian’s in the title game.

Purdue has been honed in on signing multiple ball-handling guards for a 2024 class that already included wing Kanon Catchings, big man Raleigh Burgess and shooting guard Jack Benter. Cox fits that bill, with intangibles Painter covets.

“I think they thought I could make an impact on the court offensively being able to run the offense and distributing the ball,” Cox said, “but also with my defensive ability, being able to guard multiple positions.”

Much more from Cox in the video interview below.