Purdue lands commitment from Notre Dame OL Joey Tanona
Purdue landed a major transfer portal commitment from Notre Dame offensive lineman Joey Tanona on Friday afternoon. He is Purdue’s first commitment from the portal.
The former four-star recruit from Zionsville (Ind.) High will have four years of eligibility and is able to play all three spots along the line. At Zionsville, Tanona played with Boilermaker center Gus Hartwig. Tanona’s dad played football at Army for Jim Young, who coached Purdue (1977-81).
The 6-5, 295-pound Tanona enrolled at Notre Dame in January 2022 and subsequently was injured in an auto accident. He retired from football before playing a snap for the Fighting Irish but has since been cleared to play. Tanona entered the portal on December 4.
Tanona suffered a concussion during the car accident in the winter of 2022 that Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman described that spring as “a pretty bad one.” He did not participate in spring practice.
“After his accident in the wintertime, he kept trying to come back,” Freeman said in the spring of 2022. “Mentally and physically, he was not in a place where he was ready to play football. He decided to medically retire. …”
Tanona was the No. 135 overall recruit in the 2022 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.
