Arvanitis lining up junior days

St. John (Ind.) Lake Central fullback Riley Arvanitis will be limited in his travel only by the number of weekends in the next month. The 6-0, 220-pound prospect has been invited to junior days at programs across the country, and has plotted out an itinerary to hit as many as possible.

Arvanitis' junior day tour starts this Sunday with a trip to Indiana. He will follow that up with a trip to Iowa on Feb. 5, Arkansas on Feb. 11, either Ohio State or Tulsa on Feb. 18 and finally Purdue on Feb. 25.

"It's going to be a good time over the next few weeks," Arvanitis remarked. "It's a great opportunity to meet [the coaches], check everything out, maybe even meet the players that are there or take a tour. I really am excited about doing that and I really want to get this process started with colleges."

And Arvanitis' junior day visits may not end with that list. Thursday he was invited to Nebraska's junior day and is checking on that date. USC and Stanford have also invited Arvanitis to come out to their campuses, but the distance will likely prevent him from making those trips.

The primary goal for Arvanitis with the upcoming junior day tour will be to establish relationships with coaches he is not yet familiar with and strengthen relationships with those he is. Iowa and Western Kentucky are two coaching staffs with whom Arvanitis has already begun to build a relationship.

"I get stuff from Iowa probably every three or four days," he said. "I just call the running backs coach and the recruiting coordinator.

"I get a lot of stuff from Western Kentucky. I went there for a visit and I really liked those guys. I liked that they really knew who I was, knew about me and knew my stats."

This past fall, Arvanitis carried the ball just 44 times, but gained 377 yards and scored four touchdowns playing primarily a blocking role for his team. He has played tailback in the past, and has rushed for 2,531 yards and 36 touchdowns during his high school career. In college, Arvanitis is not concerned with where a school would line him up.

"It depends what school it is, because if it is a school that does a lot of power running I think it'd be for a fullback or H-back," Arvanitis said. "If it is one of those schools that runs shotgun, I think it would be tailback.

"I can do either one and played either one in the past, so it doesn't make a difference to me. As long as I am helping the team win."