Nashville (Tenn.) Ensworth point guard/athlete Cornelius Elder reported that Purdue offered him a basketball scholarship on Sunday.
The 5-foot-10, 165-pound Elder is one of the top football prospects in the country, and is favoring offers from Ohio State and UCLA. However the basketball opportunity from the Boilermakers could shake things up.
"He's been waiting on a basketball offer like this as a legitimate sort of option," 247Sports National Analyst Barton Simmons said. Programs such as Murray State, Belmont, Lipscomb and Western Kentucky have also offered Elder for hoops. "Now that a high-major program has offered him in basketball, I think he's going to take that into consideration. I wouldn't be surprised if he decided to hang up the cleats and just play basketball for Purdue."
That doesn't mean Elder couldn't eventually play football in West Lafayette. He is ranked by the 247Composite as the nation's No. 7 athlete and No. 200 recruit overall.
"If he went for basketball, he wouldn't be able to play football till his junior year if he accepted a basketball scholarship," Simmons explained of the NCAA rules. "I wouldn't be surprised if he went out for football after that, but basketball has always been his first love."
- Steve Wiltfong
- National Recruiting Writer - 247Sports