Palmer Graham is taking a proactive approach to his recruitment. The Illinois cornerback is economical, too.

Northern Iowa invited Graham for a campus visit. He decided that would happen on Wednesday. And being that Iowa also had been corresponding with him, he figured he’d check out the Hawkeyes as well.

"I had been asked to come up to Northern Iowa for a while, so I figured I’d kill two birds with one stone," he said.

Iowa isn’t pursuing Graham as heavily as UNI to date. But that could change. And now he has a Hawkeye visit under his belt.

"I got (to Iowa) around 3:30 and the practice had already started. But I got the chance to see the practice, players lounge, positional meeting rooms, weight room and the rest of the new football facility. The facilities were excellent and I liked the tempo at which practice was ran," Graham said.

The 5-foot-9, 165-pound Graham reports a scholarship offer from Army. He hails from Conant High in Hoffman Estates, IL.

As a junior, Graham totaled 31 solo tackles with one interception and a touchdown. As a receiver, he caught 33 passes for 464 yards and two scores.

The timing of Graham’s Iowa visited precluded him from meeting with anyone on the staff.

"The coaches were all busy with practice because I got there a little late into practice. (Director of New Media) Max Allen showed me around the facility," he said.

You could say that the Hawkeyes’ recruitment of Graham still is in the introductory phase.

"Coach (Brian) Ferentz is the recruiter for my area and we haven’t had a lot of formal conversation," Graham said.

Graham’s relationship with UNI is farther along than with the Hawkeyes.

"UNI was a full-out visit. I was taken around the school’s campus then I had individual meetings with Offensive Coordinator Joe Davis and Cornerback Coach Brandon Lynch. Later, we met with the head coach (Mark Farley). After the meetings, we went to see more of their football facilities and weight room. It was really nice," he said.

While the Panthers didn’t extend an offer to Graham on the stop, they made him feel good about their relationship.

"They said they were extremely interested. They wanted me to visit so I know of their interest along with putting names with faces and seeing the facilities," he said.

Graham hopes to pick up more recruiting interest when he attends The Opening regional combine in Chicago on May 3.

"I will attend a few camps this summer and hopefully visit a few more schools unofficially," he said.