Purdue’s Devin Mockobee on donating money to youth football league
Devin Mockobee was in his hometown of Boonville Sunday. He came with a significant donation to help youth football.
BOONVILLE − Devin Mockobee was elbow deep in his latest project when a car interior needed stitching.
Rather than seek a seamstress, Mockobee taught himself to sew by watching instructional videos.
“I take joy in using it as a learning opportunity,” Mockobee said. “I am willing to take that extra time to learn and figure it out.”
Purdue football’s fifth-year running back has made a life out of taking the tough road.
Before the former Purdue walk-on launched to college football stardom after a rash of injuries elevated him into a prominent role in 2022, Mockobee made the improbable routine.
In Boonville, a small town tucked in the southwest corner of Indiana, the stories are legendary.
Before Purdue football, Devin Mockobee was a Boonville hero
Devin Mockobee was a three-sport standout for the Boonville Pioneers, starring in football, basketball and track and field. Before he went from Purdue walk-on to freshman sensation to one of the Boilermakers‘ all-time backfield greats, he left a legacy in his hometown.
From former Boonville athletic director Kevin Davis, there’s the time Mockobee quit basketball his junior season to put on muscle in hopes of a football scholarship. After gaining 15 pounds, Mockobee returned to the hardwood as a high school senior.
“We’re playing Blake Sisley. He was a 6-foot-10 kid,” Davis recalls. “Devin battles him and if we had one more scorer, we might’ve won. He shut the Sisley boy down. He’s 6 feet playing 6-10 and comes off taking a year off.”
Blake Sisley had 9 points on 3 of 8 shooting in that 2021 contest, but Heritage Hills ultimately came back in the second half to beat Boonville.
Or the story from John Batts, who coached defensive backs while Mockobee was a two-way starter in high school.
“We do a thing here called the 1,000-point club where you’re scored based on solo tackles are 10 points, assist is 5, an interception is 100, a touchdown is 100 and I think he had like 700 points in a single game at Mount Vernon,” Batts said. “He had a strip sack, which he returned (59 yards). He had a (98 yards) pick six. Just some special stuff.”
As a senior, Mockobee scored 27 touchdowns in eight games during a COVID-shortened season. He averaged nearly 10 yards per carry.
“Once we got through the first couple games, it was like every time he touched it, everybody wanted to pay attention because you just didn’t know what was going to happen,” former Boonville football head coach Darin Ward said. “You almost assumed he was always going to score, but you didn’t know how dynamic it was going to be. Like running down the sideline and making a cut and the ball going behind his back, which he did one game.”
Highlighting that senior season was a Sept. 11, 2020 game.
Mockobee rushed for 419 yards and five touchdowns against Gibson Southern, which overcame those heroics to beat Boonville 43-35.
“I remember walking in (at halftime) and one of the other assistant coaches said he’s got 250 yards in the first half,” Ward recalled. “I said, we might need another 250. Sure enough he gave us another 100 and something and he’s playing defense as well.
“He did some legendary things and will go down as probably the all-time best to come through Boonville High School.”
From Boonville to Boilermaker
The hardest thing Mockobee had to do wasn’t evading defenders, guard giants on the basketball court or even teach himself to sew.
It was calling Navy coaches to renege on a commitment to play college football for the Midshipmen.
Mockobee’s final act at Boonville was the state track and field meet. He capped his senior year winning the Indiana state title in long jump and finishing second in the 110-meter high hurdles, a performance that caught the attention of then Purdue running backs coach Chris Barclay.
Mockobee’s father Conrad knew his son would be turning down Navy after spending eight hours touring facilities in West Lafayette after Purdue promised nothing more than a walk-on opportunity.
“I knew I had to work and prove myself,” Mockobee said. “That was something I was never scared of.”
What happened next, almost nobody saw coming.
Mockobee is currently in Las Vegas for Big Ten Media Days, one of 54 football players from the league taking part. He’s about to enter his senior season ranked ninth on Purdue’s career rushing list. He’s less than 200 yards from cracking the top five.
After a 1-11 season and a third head coach in the last four seasons, Mockobee turned away more lucrative money offers, desiring an engineering degree at Purdue and finishing with the school he started with.
“I’ve always been a loyalty guy,” Mockobee said. “If I am going to go take a chance, I would rather work my tail off to try to turn it around versus bounce to start winning again just because I joined another ship.”
In Boonville, Mockobee left a record breaking legacy.
He did things no one had seen before or since.
He may just do the same in West Lafayette, about four hours north from where Mockobee grew up.
As of now, he’s 1,169 rushing yards away from doing the same at Purdue. Mike Alstott’s total of 3,635 rushing yards has stood atop the Purdue board since 1995.
“When you’re talking about names like Alstott, you are talking about living legends,” Mockobee said. “Just being able to be considered in that conversation, my name being in the conversation with theirs at all, somebody from good old Boonville, Indiana, it blows my mind. It seems unfathomable to a kid from where I’m from.”
Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at sking@jconline.com and follow him on X and Instagram @samueltking.