Series Wraps Up on Best Boiler Gridders by Number

This week we wrap up the best Boilermaker football players by number series with  a College Football Hall of Fame guard and a Touchdown Twin.

91

Blaine Smith

While not recognized as a member of Purdue’s Den of Defensive Ends, Smith was a first-team All-Big Ten selection in 1975 and 1976.

92

Craig Terrill

One of several freshmen to have a key role in the 2000 Big Ten championship team, Terrill was a four-year starter at defensive tackle.

Purdue’s run of dramatic victories in October 2000 included a stunning overtime win at Wisconsin when Terrill blocked a long field goal try. The loose ball was recovered by Ashante Woodyard, who returned the blocked kick for the game-winning touchdown.

Terrill’s 20.5 sacks ranked in Purdue’s Top 10 when he graduated. After earning second-team All-Big Ten honors in 2003, Terrill went in the sixth round of the NFL Draft to Seattle.

93

Kawaan Short

Short possessed great athletic ability for a 6-3, 314-pound human being, a talent that was first noticed when he helped E’Twaun Moore and East Chicago Central win a Class 4A state basketball championship in 2007.

Short was a powerful pass rusher from his defensive tackle position, recording 19.5 career sacks and 49 tackles for loss. Short started all 50 games he played at Purdue and was a second-team All-American and first-team All-Big Ten selection as a senior in 2012.

The Carolina Panthers took short in the second round of the 2013 NFL Draft. Short played six seasons for the Panthers before a partially torn rotator cuff in 2019 and shoulder surgery in 2020 ended his career.

94

Ryan Kerrigan

One of the youngest to be elected to the Leroy Keyes Purdue Athletics Hall of Fame, Kerrigan was a three-star recruit out of Muncie Central High School but played like a five-star defensive end.

As a senior, Kerrigan was a unanimous All-American, the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and the Big Ten Defensive Lineman of the Year. Kerrigan led the nation with 26 tackles for loss to go with 12.5 sacks and five forced fumbles.

Kerrigan earned first-team All-Big Ten honors as a junior after leading the nation with seven forced fumbles to go with 13 sacks.

He was a first round draft pick by Washington in 2011 and was selected to the Pro Bowl four times.

95

Alex Agase

One of our country’s “Greatest Generation,” Agase was a leader on the football field and in the jungles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa.

Agase began his College Football Hall of Fame career as an All-American guard at Illinois in 1942. Upon enlisting in the Marines in 1943, Agase was sent to Purdue for the V-12 training program. When not preparing for battle in World War II, Agase helped the Boilermakers go 9-0 and claim a share of the Big Ten championship. Again, Agase was cited as an All-American.

While on active duty, Agase earned a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart. After his discharge, Agase returned to Illinois and earned his third All-American award. A six-year career in the NFL followed.

His coaching career included a four-year tenure at Purdue. Notable victories under Agase included an upset of defending national champion Notre Dame in South Bend in 1974 and a 16-14 victory against top-ranked Michigan in 1976.

96

Red Mackey

His name has been on Purdue’s basketball arena since the early 1970s but Mackey was a football man first and foremost. His playing career at Purdue from 1926-28 was notable for Mackey’s introduction to his future boss. Frederick Hovde was a quarterback at Minnesota before becoming Purdue’s president from 1946 to 1971.

Mackey was on the Purdue coaching staff when he was promoted to athletic director in 1942. “Mr. Purdue,” as he was called by Lafayette Journal and Courier sports editor Bruce Ramey, served in that role until his death on Feb. 22, 1971.

97

Steve Baumgartner

Another deserving candidate for the Den of Defensive Ends from the 1970s, Baumgartner stood an imposing 6-7 and teamed up with future pros Dave Butz, Gregg Bingham and Gary Hrivnak to form one of Purdue’s most talented defensive lines.

Baumgartner earned first-team All-Big Ten honors in 1972, and was one of five Boilermakers to go in the first two rounds of the 1973 NFL Draft. He would play for New Orleans and the Houston Oilers from 1973-79.

98

Matt Mitrione

As a four-year starter at defensive tackle, Mitrione racked up 50 tackles for loss from 1998 to 2001.

Mitrione earned first-team All-Big Ten honors in 2001, and finished his Boilermaker career with 10 sacks.

99

Jim Carter

He may not have a sandwich named in his honor at Triple XXX Restaurant in West Lafayette like fellow Touchdown Twin Duane Purvis, but Jim Carter was in no one’s shadow at Purdue from 1932-34.

His 5.37 yards per carry ranks seventh in Purdue history, just a tick behind Purvis’ 5.43. With Carter in the backfield, Purdue went 18-4-2 with a Big Ten championship in 1932.

Preseason honors

One of the top college basketball publications has selected Purdue senior guard Braden Smith its preseason National Player of the Year.

The lone returning first-team All-American, Smith won the Bob Cousy Award as the nation’s top point guard last season. The Indiana Mr. Basketball winner from Westfield averaged 15.8 points, 8.7 assists and 4.5 rebounds a year ago.

Smith and fellow senior Fletcher Loyer were selected the Big Ten’s top backcourt.

Blue Ribbon Magazine also placed senior forward Trey Kaufman-Renn on its All-America second team. Kaufman-Renn averaged 20.1 points and 6.5 rebounds a year ago on his way to earning first-team All-Big Ten honors.

Kaufman-Renn and centers Oscar Cluff and Daniel Jacobsen were ranked second among Big Ten frontcourts behind Michigan.

The 411-page publication, which contains lengthy articles on every major college school, ranks Purdue second in its top 25 behind Florida. Houston, Duke and Connecticut round out Blue Ribbon’s top five.

Big Ten teams ranked by Blue Ribbon include No. 9 Michigan, No. 12 UCLA, No. 20 Illinois and No. 21 Wisconsin.

The Boilermakers will also play at No. 8 Kentucky in an Oct. 24 exhibition game, at No. 11 Alabama on Nov. 13, No. 13 Auburn at Indianapolis on Dec. 20 and No. 17 Iowa State on Dec. 6 at Mackey Arena. No. 14 Texas Tech could be an opponent at the Baha Mar Championship on Nov. 21 in Nassau, Bahamas.

Big Ten basketball schedule

Can Purdue break the trend of being unable to go 2-0 in Big Ten play in December? We’ll find out Dec. 2 when the Boilermakers travel to Rutgers on Dec. 2.

A victory there would make it likely Purdue will start league play 2-0 with Minnesota coming to Mackey Arena on Dec. 10. During the previous eight years under the current scheduling model of Big Ten play beginning before Christmas, the Boilermakers have gone 2-0 just twice.

In 2017-18, Purdue would go on to finish 15-3 and one game behind Michigan State for the title. Led by Zach Edey, Purdue started league play 2-0 in 2022-23 and went on to win the Big Ten by three games.

The now annual West Coast trip launches probably the toughest stretch of the Big Ten season for Purdue. After playing USC (Jan. 17) and UCLA (Jan. 20), the Boilermakers come home to face Illinois on Jan. 24. Trips to Indiana (Jan. 27) and Maryland (Feb. 1) follow. 

Indiana makes the return trip to Mackey Arena on Feb. 20, the middle game of a three-game homestand that starts with Michigan on Feb. 17 and ends with Michigan State on Feb. 26. Wisconsin comes to Mackey Arena for Senior Day on March 7.

After a one-year experiment limiting the Big Ten Tournament to 15 schools, all 18 league members will come to the United Center in Chicago from March 11-15.

Purdue Top 100 duo

Two former Boilermaker standouts are among ESPN’s NBA Top 100 entering the 2025-26 season.

Second-year center Zach Edey of the Memphis Grizzlies is ranked 88^th.

“The 7-foot-4, 305-pound big man’s status for the start of the season is in question as Edey recovers from June ankle surgery, but he proved he could be impactful in a limited role as a rookie. Edey averaged 9.2 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.3 blocks last season, when he played only 21.5 minutes per game. Only one rookie has ever matched or exceeded that production across the board with a higher effective field goal percentage than Edey’s .600.”

Detroit Pistons guard Jaden Ivey was ranked 85^th.

“Three years into his NBA career and it’s still fair to wonder what exactly to make of Ivey and his long-term fit in Detroit. He played in only 30 games last season before a season-ending injury forced him to watch the team’s playoff run from the sidelines. Before the injury, he was showing signs of a breakout, recording 17.6 points per game on 46 percent shooting (41 percent from 3), both of which were career highs. … Now extension eligible on his rookie contract, Ivey will have something to prove this season: Can he be a major part of Detroit’s next playoff run?”

Indiana Pacers guards Aaron Nesmith and Andrew Nembhard were ranked 65^th and 81^st respectively by ESPN.

Kenny Thompson is the former sports editor for the Lafayette Journal & Courier and an award-winning journalist. He has covered Purdue athletics for many years.