The Dalton Crossan File: Purdue

Sachem Patch will be following Sachem's Dalton Crossan during his recruiting process, highlighting the ups and downs of traveling the country in hopes of finding the college he'll spend the next four years playing at...

Dalton Crossan left Sachem North’s lacrosse game in North Carolina at halftime Friday and flew to Indianapolis to visit Purdue on a recruiting trip for football.

The Arrows were up 14-3 at the half and Crossan already scored four goals and added one assist, so he wasn’t missing much.

He was impressed during the junior day visit and can certainly see himself in a Boilermakers uniform in 2012. The black and gold colors make for an easy transition. He said Purdue moved into his top three, though he’s not releasing any formal list of choices for quite some time since he has a handful of schools left to visit.

“The facilities were amazing,” he said. “It has a nice big college feeling. Everything around you has Purdue on it.”

They told him he’d most likely red shirt as a freshman and be used as a slot receiver who can moonlight at tailback depending upon the offensive set.

After touring the campus and watching a spring practice, he spoke briefly with head coach Danny Hope and connected with grad assistant Kyle Smith, a West Babylon native who coached at Deer Park High School and Hofstra University before heading to Purdue where his primary responsibility are tight ends.

Purdue plays in the Big Ten and finished 4-8 in 2010. Currently, there are no Long Island natives on the roster. The most notable Island figure to have played at Purdue is former legendary East Islip football and baseball coach Sal Ciampi, who wore No. 68 and was a left guard who blocked for future NFL quarterback Bob Griese.

Next up for Crossan: Buffalo, Western Michigan (April 4), Penn State (April 9), Boston College (April 16), Rutgers, and N.C. State.

On a separate recruiting note, Longwood's Omari Palmer committed to play at Syracuse in 2012.

Check out the YouTube video above to see footage of Crossan working out at a Five-Star combine earlier this month.