Perhaps WR Jake Cunningham won't be the only future Boilermaker from Pontiac, IL in the 2003 recruiting class. As it stands right now, Jake's teammate, LB Buck Casson does NOT have a scholarship offer from Purdue. However, after watching his 8 minute highlight video, I would not be surprised if that were to change down the road.
Three things stood out the most:
1. Buck is a excellent "form-tackler" in my opinion. By that I mean he is very adept at squaring up with a ball carrier, then wrapping both arms around the guy, and driving his foe to the turf.
2. Buck has tremendous field vision and instincts as a middle linebacker. He always seems to be the first guy to shoot the gap and snare a ball carrier behind the line of scrimmage. In a passing situation, I watched him drop back a good 10-15 yards down field and make a leaping interception. The guy at Purdue he reminded me most of is Niko Koutovides, Buck just seems to have that same aggressive demeanor and energy on the football field.
3. I've heard that Buck did not have a 4.6 or lower 40 time at Purdue's camp but from my vantage point he seemed to be very quick in 10-15 yard sprints. It appeared that Buck was always coming full throttle to make plays from sideline to sideline.
Buck seemed to be decent sized for a HS LB, I'm guessing he was about 6-2, 212 lbs or so. I would say he has the frame to put on another 20-25 lbs to play MLB in the Big 10.
The word on the street is that Iowa appears to have shown Buck the most interest thus far but several Big 10 teams along with Notre Dame and Colorado are showing interest.
In any event, best wishes to Buck and his teammate Jake Cunningham as they hope to lead Pontiac HS to a state title this season.
As news organizations move their stories to an archive, some of the links listed above may become inactive
OldGoldFreePress.com is organized & maintained by a group of college sports reporters with the help of Purdue sports fans everywhere. OldGoldFreePress.com is an independent and unofficial Purdue (+ Big Ten Conference/NCAA) sports news site that is not affiliated with Purdue University, the Big Ten Conference, the NCAA and/or any university athletic program.
Share