HAMMOND, Ind. — With only three returning players from the 2008-09 season, Purdue University Calumet’s men’s basketball coaches knocked on several doors searching for recruits to fit the Peregrine program. Second-year head coach Dan Voudrie recently locked up nine players from across Indiana, including eight freshmen and one junior college transfer.

“We are pleased to have this collection of young men as our initial recruiting class. As basketball players, most of these guys believe they were overlooked by many other colleges and have the right kind of attitude about working to prove it,” Voudrie said.

Junior Neal Hudson (Hobart), a 6-6 transfer from Joliet Junior College, Ill., averaged 14.8 points and 5.7 rebounds per game last season. He was an all-conference player in the North Central Community College Conference and an all-area player in Region IV of the National Junior College Athletic Association.

A second local player, Markus Starks, 6-6 from Gary Wirt, averaged 15.2 points and 9.6 rebounds per game last season. He was all conference in the Northwest Conference and named to all area teams for the Northwest Indiana Times and Post Tribune.

Six-foot-one point guard Aaron Evans (Roncalli, Indianapolis) averaged 18 points and four assists last season, and in three seasons at the point Evans helped Roncalli to a 51-14 record. Evans earned several post-season awards, including First Team status in the Hoosier Basketball Magazine, an all-state honorable mention for the Associated Press and Indiana Basketball Coaches Association and a nominee as a McDonald’s All-American.

Kedric Williams, the only player from Illinois, played at Normal Community High School and averaged 13.7 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.7 assists last season. Williams was an Associated Press Honorable Mention in Class 4A, a First Team All-Big 12 Conference player and named a First Team All-Area player by the Bloomington Pantagraph.

Kameron Bright, 6-6, and Bo Ray, 5-10, both played at Wayne High School, Fort Wayne, Ind., in the Summit Athletic Conference. Bright averaged 14.9 points and 10.6 rebounds and Ray averaged eight points and 4.8 assists. Bright, who finished as Wayne’s all-time second leading rebounder, earned first team status in the conference, and Ray earned honorable mention.

Logansport’s Joel Gotshall, 6-3, averaged 12.1 points and 6.5 rebounds per game earning First Team honors in the North Central Conference. Mark Sutter (Elkhart Central) averaged 10.4 points and 4.7 rebounds per game and was an Honorable Mention and All-Star player in the Northern Indiana Conference.

Will Schenkel (Huntington North) shot 83 percent from the foul line and earned honors on the North Central Conference’s All-Academic Team.  And Brant Stockamp who played at LaPorte La Lumiere last season, also committed to the Peregrines.

The Peregrines finished 3-26 in Voudrie’s first season, and the roster shrunk to eight eligible players in early January. Voudrie was confident about recruiting solid athletes and students to help rebuild the men’s basketball program.

“It is a group of student athletes that first and foremost are committed to graduating from Purdue University Calumet,” Voudrie said. “They each have also made commitments to personal growth, giving to the team and going the distance. The character of these individuals is what excites me.

“The commitment they have made on and off the court is why we recruited them. As a collective group the average of their high school GPA is 3.048.”