Florida DB high on Hawks and Badgers
IOWA CITY, Iowa – Florida defensive back K.J. Sails has been treated to a Big Ten recruiting combo package over the past two days.
He spent Tuesday at Wisconsin and most of Wednesday at Iowa in order to get a closer look at both schools.
The Iowa part of his trip seems to have gone very well.
“It was great,” Sails said Wednesday. “Actually, it blew me away. I never thought that Iowa would look like that.”
Sails instead made the same assumption about Iowa that so many other recruits have made.
“Cornfields, dairy country in the middle of nowhere,” Sails said of his expectations for Iowa.
Sails reportedly has nearly 20 scholarship offers from schools that include Iowa, Wisconsin, Indiana, Rutgers and Pittsburgh. Asked about his timetable for making a decision, Sails said he didn’t know.
“I’m currently still in the process, just having fun,” said Sails, a 5-foot-11, 163-pound native of Gibsonton, Fla.
Sails also said he couldn’t pick a favorite right now between Iowa and Wisconsin.
“I couldn’t, it’s too hard,” he said.
The Badgers might have one advantage with Sails being friends with Wisconsin defensive back and fellow Florida native Sojuorn Shelton, who is from Fort Lauderdale.
“I talk to him a lot,” said Sails, who is ranked as a three-star recruit by Rivals.com and as the 84th best prospect in the 2016 class in Florida.
Sails’ interest goes beyond just the Badgers and Hawkeyes. He also plans to visit Texas-Christian, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and maybe Georgia Southern.
“It’s fun finding out what schools look like and the love you get from the fans,” Sails said. “It’s just a great experience to go through the process."
Among the things that stood out during his visit to Iowa were the people he met along the way and the new facilities.
“The facilities were just outstanding,” Sails said.
Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz also made a strong impression.
“I got to talk with some of the players and I also got to talk to the head coach,” said Sails, who planned to return to Madison, Wis., before heading back to Florida on Thursday. “We didn’t really talk much about football. We talked about life.
“He’s a great coach and a great man. And I respect him.”
The Iowa coaches are trying to add the final pieces to the 2016 recruiting class, which grew to 21 players with a commitment from Wisconsin tight end/linebacker Kristian Welch on Monday.