Austin enjoys Knoxville

Washington (D.C) Ballou defensive tackle Marvin Austin took his second official visit of the recruiting year when he tripped to Knoxville to see the Tennessee Volunteers this weekend. How did things go?

"It was a good trip," said the 6-foot-2, 291-pounder. "I was hosted by Rico McCoy and he's my boy. Rico is from D.C. and I've known him for awhile so he showed me what I needed to see."

Austin had been to Knoxville once before but this visit was much more informative.

"The hospitality was very good and they play good football there," said Austin, who saw Tennessee lose a heartbreaker to LSU. "It was a tough loss but the team hung together and they still showed me a good time even though they were down. I got to see the city more this time and it's bigger than I thought and I know they are losing some players on the defensive line so I think I can impact there."

Next up for Austin is an official visit to Southern Cal the weekend of Nov. 24 when the Trojans host Notre Dame. He still has to set up official visits to two other schools.

"It will be Florida State for sure and maybe Miami or Maryland," he said. "I've been to Maryland so many times but they feel an official visit will allow me to experience things better. Miami is kind of shaky now with the situation down there so I'll figure that out after their season ends. Florida State will be in late January so I won't decide until the very end."

So does Tennessee have a chance?

"They'll be there until the end, I really liked it," he said. "I could see myself playing there. The fan support is awesome, the facilities are top notch and they have my intended major."