Purdue is starting to pick up steam on the transfer portal market as former Arkansas linebacker Alex Sanford announced his commitment to the Boilermakers following an official visit to West Lafayette this weekend.

Sanford becomes Purdue’s second transfer portal pickup of the cycle and second from Arkansas, following quarterback Malachi Singleton, who announced his commitment to the Boilermakers earlier this week.

The redshirt freshman linebacker had committed to Arkansas to play for Barry Odom and Mike Scherer when the two were coaching in Fayetteville. Two years later he now follows the Boilermakers’ new head coach and defensive coordinator to West Lafayette at a position of need.

Purdue had a thin linebacker corps this season, which saw Kydran Jenkins and Yanni Karlaftis depart this off-season. Sanford now joins Hudson Miller, Winston Berglund and Owen Davis as players with experience at the linebacker position for the Boilermakers heading into 2025.

Sanford has had a minimal role on defense during his career, playing just nine snaps, but he has carved out a consistent role on special teams. Sanford had the third most special teams snaps of any Razorback in 2024, and 328 across his two seasons, serving on the kick return, kick coverage, punt return and punt coverage units, holding a 65.2 Pro Football Focus grade in that regard.

Sanford will have two years of eligibility remaining with the Boilermakers.

Associated Press

JONESBORO, Ark. (AP) — Josh Hill scored 26 points as Arkansas State beat Coastal Carolina 97-67 on Saturday.

Hill shot 9 for 15, including 6 for 12 from beyond the arc for the Red Wolves (10-3, 1-0 Sun Belt Conference). Joseph Pinion scored 19 points while shooting 5 for 10 (4 for 7 from 3-point range) and 5 of 6 from the free-throw line and added five rebounds and three steals. Taryn Todd finished 6 of 11 from the field to finish with 13 points, while adding five rebounds and six assists.

Jordan Battle finished with 20 points and seven rebounds for the Chanticleers (6-6, 0-1). Colin Granger added 16 points and 10 rebounds for Coastal Carolina. Denzel Hines also had 13 points and 10 rebounds.

Arkansas State next plays Thursday against Old Dominion on the road, and Coastal Carolina will host Warner on Sunday.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.