After hiatus, Fitzpatrick returns to IU

Indiana has been involved in the recruitment of four-star Waterford (Mich.) Mott wide receiver Desmond Fitzpatrick as long as any team, and this past weekend he made an official visit to see the Hoosiers.

"They were my first offer my freshman year," Fitzpatrick said. "They always had that confidence in me, always knew that I was going to be a good player and that I would fit in perfect in their offense. That meant a lot to me that coach (Kevin) Johns and coach Kevin Wilson kept up with me throughout the process and I felt I would fit perfect in that offense, so I just wanted to check it out."

Fitzpatrick made several visits to Indiana his freshman year, culminating with an offer at their summer camp. He had not returned to Bloomington, though, until this past weekend.

"The last time I was down there was my freshman year, so I haven't seen the place in three years," Fitzpatrick said. "Being more serious about the recruiting process, I really just looked at everything different - the offense, the coaching staff, how the players were treated and the campus.

"I actually walked out of there very impressed with Indiana University. The offense is by far the best offense in the Big Ten, if not one of the most explosive offenses in the nation."

One of the key draws at Indiana for Fitzpatrick is the relationship he has developed with the coaching staff over the last three-plus years.

"I feel like the relationship that Coach Johns and I have together is one of the strongest relationships with any coach," Fitzpatrick said. "We've been talking for four years non-stop. Just within the last two months he has come down four times, so when he does say I am on top of his board I really believe that."

While he already knew the Indiana coaching staff well, this past weekend's official visit gave Fitzpatrick a chance to get to know the players on the team.

"My host was Nick Westbrook out of Florida. We were with Leon Thornton, who used to play with Core 6 (7-on-7 team) and I remember him from the camps. I met some of their recruits and Collin Miller down there too, so it was just a fun, overall visit."

Coming out of the winter dead period, Fitzpatrick has official visits planned to Arizona for the weekend of Jan. 15 and Louisville for the weekend of Jan. 22. His final official visit weekend is still open, with Illinois, Minnesota, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh and Washington State in contention for that weekend.

Prior to Indiana, Fitzpatrick made an official visit to Nebraska the weekend of Oct. 6. The Cornhuskers are also the only team he's had a head coach home visit with.

"I had an in-home with Coach (Mike) Riley a couple weeks back," Fitzpatrick said. "That went really well, actually. I love that coaching staff too. They are definitely in my top four/top five, but I feel like I am definitely still open to everything."

The 6-foot-2, 189-pound Fitzpatrick caught 60 passes and totaled 1,350 yards of offense and 25 touchdowns as a senior. He is ranked as the No. 208 player overall in the class of 2016.

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