According to reports from John Michael Vincent of ESPN 1070 The Fan in Indianapolis and the Twitter page of goldandblack.com's Brian Neubert, Purdue's Patrick Bade will give up the round ball in favor of the pigskin.

Neubert broke the news with this tweet Tuesday:

If all goes as expected, junior Patrick Bade will leave #Purduebasketball team and join #Boilermakers football team. Not finalized yet. -- Brian Neubert via Twitter

If Bade does indeed decide to become a tight end, as has been reported, it will leave the Purdue basketball team in a rough situation in the post. Only Robbie Hummel, Travis Carrol, Sandi Marcius and incoming freshmen Donnie Hale and Jacob Lawson will remain. Each of them is only 6-foot-8 and only Hummel, who's coming back from a second knee injury, has played significant minutes. 

The move would also free up a scholarship for the next two seasons for Matt Painter. The 2011 ride will likely go to a walk on. The 2012 class was already one signing over the scholarship limit after the commitment of Ronnie Johnson. 

Bade saw major interest from several major football programs while in high school, including Ohio State, USC and Texas.