Washington (D.C.) Ballou defensive tackle Marvin Austin took his first official visit of the recruiting year to Illinois this past weekend as the Illini took on Iowa. How did the visit go and does Ron Zook have a chance at landing the No. 2 player in the country?

"The visit was good," said Austin, who was jumping on a plane for home. "I had a good time and got to hang with all the players. It's a good group of guys. There are a lot of D.C. players there which was surprising. I was hosted by Eddie McGee and saw Melvin Alaeze, Vontae Davis and some others. It's good to know that there are guys there from my area who like it."

Austin liked the area and hit it off well with the coaches.

"Coach Mike Locksley is from my area and defensive line coach Tom Sims, we hit it off really well," said the 6-foot-2, 291-pounder. "I thought they were cool."

Illinois is off to an 1-3 start to the season, but that doesn't matter to Austin.

"Coach Zook told me they are rebuilding and that's obvious, but they have some talent," he said. "I don't expect them to win a bunch of games this year, but it's a young team."

So will Austin consider the Illini until the end.

"I'm considering them, no doubt," he said. "I can't really say what will happen because I have a bunch of other visits to take, but my first official visit is one I'll remember forever so Illinois will be in there."