Florida wideout names Big Ten leader

As recruiting continues to pickup for Oakland Park (Fla.) Northeast wide receiver Xavier Reese, more and more college options are becoming available to him. Now, one of the latest options has immediately surged to the top of his list.

"Purdue is the new biggest offer so far," Reese said. "It came in last Wednesday. The recruiting coordinator wants me to come up to the Michigan game. I think it's the first weekend in either October or November. I was very excited because I know that's a good school for receivers going to the NFL, and it's another Big Ten school."

Though you might expect a south Florida native to have limited knowledge of a Big Ten program like Purdue, that is not the case with Reese. The 6-foot-3 wideout knows plenty about the Boilermaker program.

"They were a real big powerhouse nationwide because I think it was last year, they started out hot they were in the top 25 in the nation," he said. "They played in the Motor City Bowl against Central Michigan and they have that wide receiver, number 9 (Dorian Bryant), and they have that tight end (Dustin Keller)."

With all of the his excitement about the Purdue program, has it taken the lead for Reese at this stage?

"Of course," he said. "They're at the top of my list right now."

While Reese is taking a good hard look at Purdue, several other schools are still showing some serious interest in the big athletic target.

"Coach Gonzalez at Florida just invited me to the Friday Night Lights Camp on July 18," he said. "Coach Leonard from Kansas State I've been talking to a lot, and coach Partridge from Wisconsin and Coach Fisher from Vanderbilt."

Reese is excited about his opportunity under the Gainesville lights in a couple weeks but beyond that, his summer schedule is open.

"I plan on going to [Florida's Friday Night Lights]," he said. "That's real big for me. So I'm getting ready for that. That's in two weeks. I don't have anything else planned for sure because I want t know when the rest of the offers come in and I want to have a top five that I can visit."

Currently, Reese does plan to accept the invitation for an official visit to Purdue to see the Michigan contest in the fall.