After taking visits to Iowa, Wyoming, Northern Illinois, Cincinnati and North Dakota State this past fall, Gunnar Kilen is gearing up for his next round of college trips.

A 6-foot-6, 270-pound in-state offensive tackle from Verona High School, Kilen, who already has an offer from North Dakota, has a handful of junior-day visits on his calendar.

"I have junior-day visits scheduled for Northern Illinois, Illinois State, Northern Iowa, Western Michigan and South Dakota State," Kilen told BadgerBlitz.com. "I have invites to Harvard, Yale and Princeton but am not certain if I am going to take any Ivy League visits yet or not.

"Iowa, North Dakota State, Wyoming, South Dakota State, Harvard and Western Michigan have been to my high school in the last several weeks. Wisconsin and Yale were going to visit me at my high school but school was called off that day."

A first-team all-conference selection as a junior, Kilen's first scholarship come from his father's college rival.

"I was really happy with that first offer - it came very quick," Kilen said. "Coach (Joe) Pavlak was just hired at North Dakota and I must have been one of his first calls. He was still in Iowa at the time he called and I believe I talked to him on a Tuesday. We were scheduled to go to Miami (OH) that weekend but there was snow in the forecast so we changed our plans and headed the other direction for a visit to UND and they offered me that Saturday.

"My dad played for North Dakota State in the late 1980s so he has taken some heat over this from his college teammates. But all in good fun - mostly."

The offensive line talent inside the state is very strong in the 2020 class, and the Badgers already have commitments from at least three projected linemen. With that, the staff has been very selective moving forward.

"Unfortunately I have not heard much from Wisconsin," Kilen said. "Coach (Dave) Richardson (Verona) told me that Coach (Chris) Haering from Wisconsin was trying to set up a time to meet me at Verona but it did not happen due to weather.

"I believe I could play at Wisconsin but have not had much of a look from them yet."

Iowa, which has made Wisconsin a strong recruiting priority, has also been active in Kilen's recruitment.

"Coach (Tim) Polasek has been to my high school twice over the winter," Kilen said. "They would like to see me add some weight and get stronger. I am almost 275 pounds now and am being told that I should anticipate a playing weight of about 315 pounds in college. I still have a ways to go but am seeing good progress.

"As far as the next school to offer, I wish I knew the answer to that question. I will be visiting NIU this weekend. I had more contact with the previous staff at NIU so I am not sure what to expect there yet. I have had good conversations with North Dakota State and Wyoming. Both schools visited me at my high school this winter and I have plans to visit both of those schools again."