Purdue Football Recruiting Recap

Purdue football is expected to host several key targets against Rutgers this weekend, had several commits in action and more. GoldandBlack.com breaks down all of the happenings in Purdue football recruiting.

Purdue football commits in action:

Corin Berry: Charter Oak (Calif.)

Berry was 14-24 for 307 yards and three touchdowns on Friday night, as Charter Oak defeated Los Osos 41-20 and improved to 7-1 on the season.

Dana Greenhow: Sandy Creek (Ga.)

Greenhow tallied four total tackles, including a solo stop, in Sandy Creek’s 62-21 win over Whitewater on Friday night, and kept their undefeated record intact.

Katrell Webb: Collins Hill (Ga.) did not play. Webb and company will be back in action on Friday against Dacula.

Kobe Cherry: Center Grove (Ind.)

Cherry did not play in Center Grove’s 33-12 win over Bloomington South.

Kymistrii Young: Cardinal Mooney (Fla.)

Young reeled in a 46-yard touchdown reception in Cardinal Mooney’s 47-6 win over Monsignor Pace on Friday.

Jamarcus Whyce: Trotwood-Madison (Ohio) did not play.

Raderrion Daniels: Lake Cormorant (Miss.)

Daniels had two tackles and a pass breakup, as well as two catches for 31 yards in Lake Cormorant’s 27-20 loss to South Panola.

Emoni Smith: Westland (Ohio)

Smith is out for the rest of the season due to injury.

Brock Brownfield: New Palestine (Ind.)

New Palestine moved to 9-0 on the year with a 56-7 win over Delta on Friday. The Dragons will kick off sectionals on Halloween against Plainfield.

James Williams: Lawrence Central (Ind.)

Lawrence Central put up a fight against Carmel, but fell 36-33 and dropped to 4-5 on the season. The Bears will play Lawrence North to kick off sectionals on Halloween.

Aiden Solecki: Downers Grove North (Ill.)

Solecki had two tackles in Downers Grove North’s win over York, in a game where the starters did not play the second half.

Rico Schrieber: Marist (Ill.)

Marist has now won back-to-back games, picking up a 51-6 victory over Marmion on Friday. Schrieber did not record any statistics.

Terrell Berryhill: East St. Louis (Ill.)

East St. Louis picked up a fifth-straight win on Friday, beating O’Fallon 48-6. The victory sets up a matchup against IMG Academy (Fla.) next weekend in Bradenton.

Izaiah Wright: Carlson (Mich.)

Wright had a second-straight 200+ yard rushing performance, in Carlson’s 59-36 win over Lincoln Park. Wright finished with 201 yards and four scores on the ground, and added one reception for eight yards.

Brayden Sweeney: Catholic Central (Mich.)

Sweeney tallied two tackles and 1.5 sacks in Catholic Central’s 35-7 win over Northview on Friday, as the Cougars moved to 7-0 on the season.

Brandon Kinsey: Miami Central (Fla.)

Kinsey’s stats were not made available this week.

ArMari Towns: Southside (Ala.)

Towns had two catches for 102 yards and a touchdown in Southside Selma’s 66-0 win over Wilcox Central.

Max Carmicle: Hillcrest (Ill.)

Carmicle tallied six total tackles, two tackles for loss and a sack in Hillcrest’s upset win over Oak Forest on Friday. GoldandBlack.com was in attendance for the game. (More on that later)

Dream Rashad and Seven Rashad: Buford (Ga.)

In Buford’s 75-0 win over Central Gwinnett, Dream Rashad had one catch for 66 yards and a touchdown, while Seven one pass, a three-yard touchdown.

Dallas Crescenzo: Bastrop (Tx.)

Crescenzo did not play in Bastrop’s 71-0 win over Navarro on Friday. The newest Purdue commit has 29 catches for 660 yards and seven touchdowns on the season.

Purdue nets first commit of 2027 class:

Purdue football landed an early commitment on Thursday, netting 2027 three-star Bastrop (Tx.) wide receiver Dallas Crescenzo on the heels of his unofficial visit to West Lafayette less than two weeks ago.

One word to describe Crescenzo? Dynamic.

The 6-foot speedster runs a 10.83 in the 100-meter dash and it shows on the field. He can take the top off of the defense and is electric with the ball in his hands in the open field, but has also shown the ability to be a plus route runner. Crescenzo has amassed 29 catches for 660 yards and seven touchdowns, as well as 212 yards as a kick returner for Bastrop this season.

Crescenzo has the makings of a versatile weapon for offensive coordinator Josh Henson and the Boilermakers when he gets to West Lafayette in a couple of years. And that is exactly the vision Purdue has for its newest commitment.

“Obviously my main position, or what I get recruited as the most, is the slot, but they told me I have the opportunity to move around the field, whether it’s outside, singled up, slot, returning kicks, whether it’s on kickoff return or punt return,” Crescenzo said.

Purdue pushing for 2026 defensive line help:

A trio of defensive line prospects, all pledged elsewhere, earned new offers from the Boilermakers last week.

Duke commit and Carmel (Ind.) EDGE Dane Bathurst:

Early on Thursday, Purdue extended an offer to Dane Bathurst. Bathurst transferred to Carmel for his senior season after spending three years in Florida and has now been given an opportunity to stay closer to home for his college career.

Vanderbilt also offered Bathurst recently and he is set to visit the Commodores Oct. 25.

We’re told that Bathurst is considering a visit to West Lafayette as well, but it’s not a foregone conclusion that he makes it up to campus. With his Vanderbilt visit already on the books, there is just one more opportunity to visit at the moment, which would be Purdue’s home clash with Ohio State on Nov. 8th. Bathurst will be one to watch in the coming weeks as his recruitment starts to heat up.

Penn State commits, Caravel Academy (De.) DL Isaac Chukwurah and Riverside (Penn.) DL Tavian Branch:

Purdue, like many other programs, is jumping at Penn State commits, who are now looking elsewhere after the firing of James Franklin. The first two on that list for the Boilermakers are defensive line prospects Isaac Chukwurah and Tavian Branch. Both would be blue-chip additions to the 2026 class, but with that comes plenty of top flight competition.

Chukwurah has netted offers from Miami (FL), North Carolina State, Purdue, Syracuse, and West Virginia in the last week, while Rutgers, Boston College, and North Carolina are also in the mix. Branch has more high-profile programs coming after him, in Oregon, Nebraska, Ole Miss and Maryland.

Both are going to be difficult to land, but could emerge as options moving forward.

Pair of 2026 offensive linemen add offers:

While Kelvin Green and Jake Trump were active in identifying new targets on the defensive front, offensive line coach Vance Vice did the same, offering two new 2026 prospects over the weekend.

The first of which is Penn State commit and four-star Depaul Catholic (NJ.) tackle, Marlen Bright. The New Jersey native, like many Nittany Lion commits, is in wait-and-see mode after James Franklin was fired last Sunday. Purdue is among the programs to reach out to the four-star talent, along with Illinois, North Carolina, Washington, Georgia Tech, Stanford and Auburn.

The other was a player we wrote about a couple of weeks ago, Bishop Luers (Ind.) lineman Jonas Muya. The hooper turned offensive lineman was on campus for an unofficial visit and went home without an offer. That changed on Friday night, when Vice extended him a spot with the Boilermakers. Muya is an upside prospect, standing at 6-foot-8 and having the aforementioned basketball background. The in-state prospect is set to take an official visit to Minnesota in November, but I expect Purdue to get a visit from Muya as well. He also holds offers from West Virginia, Cincinnati, Toledo, and Miami (OH).

2027 quarterback to watch:

The First Academy (Fla.) quarterback Landen Holley will be on campus for Purdue’s regular season finale against Indiana on November 28th. Holley holds offers from Georgia Tech, UCF, South Florida, Tulane, Toledo and Southern Miss. He already visited Georgia Tech this season and is expected to hit App State, as well.

Holley appears to be lower on the list of 2027 signal callers for the Boilermakers, with the trio of Israel Abrams, Ben Musser and Daniel Mielke still on the board, but a name to monitor moving forward.

The Florida native will be joined by his teammate, and fellow Purdue target, Brian Dillard on the trip.

GoldandBlack.com’s breakdown of Max Carmicle:

The following is from GoldandBlack.com’s article from Friday night.

Standing at 6 feet 7 inches, and 250 lbs., with a basketball background that is evident in seeing him move, Purdue commit and Hillcrest (Ill.) defensive end Max Carmicle is a specimen.

Carmicle has perhaps the highest upside of any Purdue pledge in the 2026 recruiting class, just based on his physical attributes. That potential showed in Hillcrest’s 34-8 win over previously undefeated Oak Forest on Friday night.

The future Boilermaker defensive end tallied six total tackles, two tackles for loss, a sack and a quarterback hurry. Including Friday night’s line, Carmicle has tallied 38 total tackles, 10 tackles for loss, 12 hurries and 2.5 sacks through eight games this season.

Carmicle is a fiery, aggressive player on the defensive side of the football. He is constantly barking out instructions to his teammates and plays with a passion that is noticeable. The lengthy defender has a never-ending motor, especially on defense. He is violent with his hands and made several big hits on Friday night.

“I’d probably say just my effort. Everybody can do X’s and O’s, but everybody can’t run to a spot and block til the whistle blows,” Carmicle.

Carmicle gets off the ball well and is explosive in the run game. He did not get as many opportunities to show off his pass rush on Friday, but did have a sack and a quarterback hurry.

What has stood in the way of Carmicle fully taking off and reaching his full potential is simply experience. Stepping onto the gridiron for the first time as a sophomore, it has been a slow, but steady increase in football IQ and mastering the fundamentals of the game.

“Max, you know, took those tools and then kind of just ran with it and made himself a prospect. And I think he’s still just scratching the surface. Obviously, he’s still a raw talent, not a completely polished kid, but you see the things there that very good players have,” Hillcrest head coach Kyran Weaver told GoldandBlack.com in June.

Carmicle is looking toward his career in West Lafayette as an opportunity to further develop and reach a new level on the field.

“I’m ready to get in there and get coached and get developed,” Carmicle said. “I feel like I’m going to program, just like here, I can buy in, and I can be successful with the coaches, especially with today’s game of football. It’s not really a lot of team effort and there’s transfers and everything. I just want to be one of those guys who brings football back.”