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Purdue basketball is on the verge of the program’s first NCAA Tournament Final Four appearance since 1980. The Boilermakers are the No. 3 seed in the South Region and will battle No. 1 seed Virginia in Louisville (8:49 p.m. EST, TBS).
Behind 97 points from star guard Carsen Edwards, Purdue is also in its first Elite 8 since 2000. The team didn’t have to travel far to get to Kentucky this week. Competing out of the Big Ten Conference, the Boilermakers drove from West Lafayette (Ind.), crossing over the northern border of the Bluegrass State.
West Lafayette is a city over over 45,000 residents in the Wabash Township of Tippecanoe County. It is about an hour north of the state capital in Indianapolis, as well as 103 miles southeast of Chicago.
The physical address of Purdue University is 610 Purdue Mall, West Lafayette, IN 47907. This public university sits right near the western bank of the Wabash River.
The original benefactor of the university was its namesake John Purdue. The wealthy industrialist chipped in $100,000 of his personal wealth to establish the initial campus. His only conditions were for the college to be located in Battle Ground and for his surname to be associated with it.
That money has grown into a $2.425 billion endowment as of 2017.
Purdue Famous Alumni
Probably the most famous alumni of the university are the 23 NASA astronauts that formed the early Gemini and Apollo space missions. The most famous are Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, and Gus Grissom, the second American to fly into space.
In terms of business, famous Boilermakers include popcorn aficionado Orville Redenbacher, former McDonald’s president and COO Don Thompson and Godfather Pizza founder Herman Cain (also a 2012 Republican Presidential candidate).
Purdue has made a huge impression in athletics. UCLA Hall of Fame coach John Wooden played guard from 1929-1932 before 10 NCAA Championships with the Bruins.
The early NFL was littered with former Boilermaker football stars, including former Dolphins quarterback Bob Griese, Super Bowl III MVP Len Dawson of the Chiefs and Kansas City head coach Hank Stram.
Nowadays, Drew Brees is the most visible NFL star, winning the Super Bowl XLIV MVP for the New Orleans Saints first NFL title. Brees holds the NFL records for career pass completions, career completion percentage, career passing yards, is second in career touchdown passes, third in regular season career passer rating, and fourth in postseason career passer rating.