Austin enjoys UVA

Washington (D.C.) Ballou defensive tackle Marvin Austin took an unofficial visit to Virginia this past Sunday to take in a practice, meet some players and take a look around the Charlottesville campus.

"I went down with Marvin and he had a good time," said Ballou assistant coach Todd Amis. "We stayed for pretty much the whole day so Marvin got to see practice and got to meet with coach Groh before and after. He spent a lot of time with coach Groh and defensive line coach Mike London. He likes the coaching staff there a lot."

Austin also got to meet an NFL Hall of Famer.

"Howie Long was down there watching his son so we got to speak to him for awhile," said Amis. "Marvin got to meet Chris Long, Eugene Monroe and some other players."

Austin got a closeup look at Virginia's 3-4 defense.

"He didn't really comment about the 3-4 much, we were mostly watching the talent on the team and they have a lot of talent. Monroe is the real deal, he's very good and they have some big players."

Austin came away with an understanding of what a UVA education offers.

"I told him that a lot of the guys I work with, attorneys, guys on The Hill, powerful folks in the area, many of them went to UVA," said Amis, who is a homicide detective in D.C. "A degree from UVA goes a long way."

Practice at Ballou, Austin's new school, begins today so this will be the final unofficial visit for Austin this summer.

"He's been to Florida State, Miami, Notre Dame, Maryland and Virginia," he said. "That's pretty good for the summer. Now he's working on trimming his list and setting up official visits. He'll probably set a few of those soon."

As for leaders?

"Your guess is as good as mine," Amis said. "I'm pretty close to Marvin but I'm not pressing him and he doesn't talk a lot about it. I know he'll take an official visit out to Southern Cal, but beyond that I'm not sure."