Purdue has been hammering away at the East Coast during this recruiting cycle, and the program is seeing some real benefits from the approach.

On Tuesday, the Boilermakers landed another player from New Jersey, this time it’s three-star cornerback Malachi “Max” Melton. He had Kent State, Boston College, Temple and Rutgers in his top five, but picked Purdue over the rest.

Melton becomes the fifth player from the New York/New Jersey area to commit to Purdue in the 2020 recruiting class. He becomes the 13th verbal pledge for Jeff Brohm and company during this cycle.

Per 247Sports Composite rankings, Melton is a top 25 player out of New Jersey and one of the top 80 cornerbacks in the class. The 5-foot-11, 165-pound wide receiver/cornerback is the younger brother of Rutgers receiver Bo Melton.

With the commitment from Melton, Purdue has cracked into the top 40 in the national recruiting rankings for this cycle, coming in at No. 39. The Boilermakers sit at No. 8 in the B1G.