Published: 9/14/2014
Author: Bob_Richards
© Old Gold Free Press Columnists
Point guard target list thinning2015 Spain point guard Angela Salvadores announced on Twitter this morning she has chosen to attend Duke. Purdue was also in the running, along with Louisville and Kentucky. West Lafayette was the destination for the last of Angela Salvadores' four visits, and the 5'9 combo guard returned to Spain and took the week to make the decision.
We first noticed the staff was looking at Salvadores following the championship game of the FIBA 17U tournament in July. Team USA beat Spain in the championship, where Salvadores went off for 40 points against America's best. Immediately after the game, Purdue assistant coach Nadine Morgan started posting in Spanish on Twitter, and assistant Kelly Komara started following Salvadores' Twitter feed. Salvadores averaged 19.9 points, 7.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 3.7 steals during the FIBA tournament. She had double-doubles against both Korea and France.
Also on campus during Salvadores' visit was 2015 Purdue commits Dominique McBryde and Tiara Murphy.
Fresh on the heels of the visit from Salvadores, 2016 point guard Nia Staples visited Purdue on Monday the 8th.
And right before we heard from Salvadores today, 2015 point guard Teniya Page verbally committed to Penn State.
Purdue on reduced list for 2016 point Alecia Sutton
Earlier this week, 2016 St. Louis. Mo. Parkway North point guard Alecia Sutton reduced her list to ten. Making the cut were Alabama, Baylor, Kansas, Louisville, Missouri, Nebraska, Purdue, Tennessee, Texas, and UCLA. The 5'9 Sutton is rated as the third-best point guard in the nation by ESPN, and no. 12 overall in the class of 2016.
As a sophomore, Sutton averaged 18.3 points, 3.6 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 3.0 steals per game, while shooting 53-percent from the field and 81-percent from the free throw line. Her high school team went 20-7 and got as far as the Missouri Class 5A quarterfinals. This summer while playing for Missouri Phenom, her team won both the Super 64 Tournament and the Adidas National Tournament. Sutton was named MVP of both tournaments.
Nia Staples gets a call
September 1 brought the first day coaches could make phone calls to class of 2016 players, and one of the players that received one from Purdue was junior point guard Nia Staples. Other programs expressing interest were Cincinnati, LaSalle, Xavier, Bowling Green, Princeton, Temple, Ohio State, Dayton, and Louisville -- a program she is visiting this weekend. Staples is in the process of setting up more visits this fall.
Staples averaged 10.4 points and 3.2 rebounds for Lakota West in Ohio, who finished the 2013-14 season as the Division I regional runner-up.
Jasmyn Martin - volleyball or basketball?
Purdue head volleyball coach Dave Shondell has been watching closely a 6'3 middle/left side hitter from the Minnesota class of 2017. Jasmyn Martin is one of the nation's top sophomore hitters in volleyball, and in the recent Prospects Nation Elite 25 ranking of 2017 basketball players, Martin comes in at No. 25. What is basketball's loss may be volleyball's gain, as Martin recently announced she was taking a hiatus from basketball for twelve months to concentrate on volleyball. The hiatus will extend through next summer, as she will not play club basketball. Her father, who is currently her club basketball coach, said he will continue to coach basketball even though his daughter is not involved with the team.
This and That
2015 post and Purdue target Ijeoma Odimgbe is visiting Vandy this weekend ... 2016 center Tori McCoy has added an offer from Michigan ... 6'1 2015 forward Brittany Ward chose Butler over a reduced list that also included Minnesota, Illinois, West Virginia, Georgia, and Missouri ... One of the schools on the list for 6'6 2015 center Nora Kiesler just offered and received a commitment from the No. 36 player in the nation. Louisville added 6'5 center Erin DeGrate of Waco, Tx. on Sunday ... 2015 Texas guard Brooke Alexander is on an official visit to Texas-Arlington this weekend.
Big Ten Recruiting
Indiana's loss appears to be Michigan State's gain. 2015 center Jenna Allen decommitted from Indiana following the abrupt departure of Curt Miller this earlier this summer, and this past week made a new commitment to Michigan State. Michigan State had been chasing senior center Erin DeGrate before she committed to Louisville on Sunday, so the commitment from Allen filled a need in their quest for a 2015 post. A high school teammate of 2015 Purdue commit Dominique McBryde, Allen averaged 14.9 points, 9.4 rebounds and 1.5 blocks as the Lady Stars won their second consecutive Class 4A state title last season.
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