Purdue landed Isaiah Hill on Friday, beating Indiana, Notre Dame, Louisville and Kentucky for the commitment of the 7-foot center from Pike High School. Hill, a five-star prospect in the 2027 recruiting class, is ranked No. 13 overall, No. 2 among centers and as the top player in Indiana.
His pledge gives Purdue one of the most prized in-state recruits in recent memory. Hill carries a.9941 evaluation, and the Boilermakers had been after him since extending an offer in August 2024.
The commitment also fits a recent pattern for Purdue in its own backyard. The program has now landed the top-ranked in-state recruit in each of the last two cycles, including Luke Ertel, the No. 1 Indiana prospect in the 2026 class who led his team to a state championship and was named Indiana Mr. Basketball.
Hill’s rise has been built on production as much as projection. During the 2025-26 season at Pike, he averaged 12.3 points, 9.7 rebounds and 4.3 blocks per game, helping the school finish 23-4 before a 57-54 overtime loss to Mount Vernon in the Class 4A Regional.
The comparison that will follow Hill around Purdue is already clear. Caleb Swanigan committed to the program in 2015 with a.9910 rating, and Hill’s.9941 evaluation makes him the highest-rated recruit Purdue has landed since the rankings began, according to the same context. That puts his commitment in a class of its own before he has played a minute in college.
For Purdue, the recruiting win is more than a single headline. It shows the Boilermakers can still close on elite Indiana talent in a crowded fight, and that Hill viewed West Lafayette as the place to take the next step after a season that made him one of the most watched big men in the country.
The next question is no longer whether Purdue can get into the race for a player like Hill. It is how quickly the program can turn another top in-state commitment into the kind of frontcourt anchor that changes a season before it starts.
