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Michigan isn't backing off Purdue football commitment George Karlaftis

West Lafayette standout plans to take five official recruiting visits to Purdue, Michigan, Clemson, Florida and Southern California

Mike Carmin
Journal & Courier
  • Karlaftis is one of the nation's top players in the 2019 recruiting class
  • The defensive standout committed to Purdue in October
  • He plans to graduate from West Lafayette in December and enroll in college in January 2019
  • Purdue has two commitments in its 2019 class - Karlaftis and Michigan City's Chase Triplett

 

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — In the days – maybe the hours or even minutes - after George Karlaftis made his public declaration to attend Purdue last October, another Big Ten program issued its own statement.

The West Lafayette defensive standout, who is one of the top players in the 2019 recruiting class, heard from Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh. The Wolverines weren’t done recruiting Karlaftis, regardless of his decision and are determined to change his mind.

“That’s true,” Karlaftis said. “I can’t tell them not to recruit me. I guess I could but I’m not that kind of person. When Jim Harbaugh comes up to you and says, ‘We like you. We’re going to keep recruiting you.’ I said, ‘OK. I’m committed to Purdue and you guys have to know that.’

“It’s their right to recruit me and if they want to keep recruiting me, that’s good.”

Michigan hasn’t slowed down in its pursuit of Karlaftis the last six months. Harbaugh sent an assistant coach to at least two of his basketball games, including at Twin Lakes in January.

In late March, George, his younger brother Yanni, his mother, Amy and his girlfriend, Kaia Harris, went on an unofficial visit to Ann Arbor to meet with Harbaugh. The trip did prove fruitful for Yanni, who is just a freshman but received his first scholarship offer from Michigan. He’s since added offers from Purdue, Michigan State and Indiana.

Michigan’s sales pitch remains the same to George and his family – Harbaugh and the Wolverines are making him a top priority, believe the program is the right fit for his talents and will continue to pursue him, despite his commitment to the Boilermakers.

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Which begs the question – is George Karlaftis still committed to Purdue?

“I’m still committed to Purdue. There’s no question about that,” he said. “I just want to see other schools and be 100 percent sure that I picked the right college when I picked Purdue.”

Part of the decision-making process now involves taking all five of his official recruiting visits allowed by the NCAA.

He plans to visit Purdue, Michigan, Clemson, Southern California and Florida, although Karlaftis did mention trying to squeeze Alabama into the schedule. That would require removing one of the schools. He's scheduled to visit Florida and USC in June and the other three during the 2018 season.

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Which begs another question – what was Brohm’s reaction to the Ann Arbor visit where George and Yanni were seen in Michigan uniforms inside the stadium?

“I don’t think they were thrilled about it but coach Brohm and I had talked before I committed that I was allowed to take other visits,” George said. “They’re OK with it but they would prefer I don’t.”

As far as Brohm’s opinion on the subject, we’ll probably never know. College coaches are prohibited from commenting about prospects until they’ve signed the official paperwork. That can’t happen until December.

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In Karlaftis’ mind, not much separates Purdue and Michigan.  

“If I had to pick between the two right now, it would be a tough decision,” Karlaftis said. “They want me equally and the pros and cons are the same for both. It’s not like I don’t like Purdue anymore and I’m still 100 percent committed.”

Karlaftis has no regrets about committing early, which was more than a year before he’s eligible to sign, and says all the factors that led him to announce his decision to attend Purdue remain in place.

By committing early, Karlaftis said he wanted to help build Purdue’s 2019 class. If one of the nation’s top players demonstrates his commitment to help turn the program around, he believes other talented players will follow.

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Purdue’s recruiting has picked up, at least from the type of athlete who is now coming to campus on unofficial visits. Brohm and his coaching staff are starting to repair the damage of previous regimes who ignored the state's top programs and players.    

None of this matters to Michigan right now.

Karlaftis said the Michigan visit “was fun. They have great facilities and they have a great coaching staff. Everything is nice and new and they have a really good football history.”

He wasn’t surprised to see a Michigan assistant coach attend his basketball games.

“They really like me,” Karlaftis said.

Purdue also showed up at his games, including nearly every assistant coach and other support personnel when the Red Devils hosted Lafayette Jeff in February.

He said Michigan and Purdue are recruiting Harris, his girlfriend, who attended Air Force last semester but is going to transfer and continue to pursue her track and field career.

Karlaftis is on pace to graduate from West Lafayette in December, allowing him to start college in January 2019.

“My goal is to take care of my family and go to the NFL,” Karlaftis said. “This will best prepare me to take that next step after college by being ready to play early and get a step ahead.”

Until December, the crazy recruiting process will continue.

“I was surprised when they started sending my mom letters, my girlfriend letters, my grandpa letters, they were sending letters to my grandpa’s office and to my uncle in Indianapolis. I’ve heard it’s crazy for players who are ranked as highly as I am but it was pretty surreal when it happened,” Karlaftis said.

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