Barnes recaps Arizona State visit
Tampa (Fla.) Berkeley Prep outside linebacker Reggie Barnes took his first official visit this past weekend, traveling a good distance to check out Arizona State.
"It was a nice trip," Barnes said.
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For the 6-foot-2, 215-pound defender who could play standing up or with his hand in the dirt on the edge, the most impressive thing about the Sun Devils was Todd Graham and his new staff.
"Probably the most impressive thing to me was the coaching there," Barnes said. "They are really a great group of guys."
Barnes is already familiar with his primary recruiter, as he was pursuing him when he coached at Pittsburgh.
"Me and Coach (Paul) Randolph have a pretty good relationship," Barnes said. "I met Coach (Todd) Graham that first night when I got there and spoke with him a lot. He is a really good guy. I just got to know him this weekend, so I don't know him too well yet."
During the visit, the Sunshine State prospect was hosted by a junior defensive tackle. He shared some of the insight he was given by the current Sun Devil.
"Will (Sutton) hosted me," Barnes said. "He just told me it has changed since the new coaches have been there. He said right now they are doing a lot of hard work getting ready for the season. He said they are a great team looking to do big things in the future. He said this coaching staff coming in should get them over the hump and help take them to a Rose Bowl. He said that is the goal every year, to go to the Rose Bowl and National Championship."
Beyond the people on campus, Barnes was impressed by just the campus itself.
"It was a really nice campus, a real nice place," Barnes said. "The campus is really nice. The dorms are pretty amazing."
While the visit impressed Barnes, he says he never considered making a pledge to the Pac-12 program.
"I never really considered committing," Barnes said. "I didn't really want to. I didn't want to early like that, I mean it isn't really early any more, but I want to take my time and not rush anything. I will probably wait until after my next visit, next week, and then decide after that.
"I am deciding right now where I am going to visit this week," Barnes added. "I haven't decided yet. I am looking at Air Force, Dartmouth - that is it really."
Barnes currently holds offers from Air Force, Arizona State, Cincinnati, Colorado State, Dartmouth, Florida International, Pittsburgh, Presbyterian, Rice, Virginia Military, and Wofford.