Buford down to four as decision nears

Southfield, Mich., athlete Ray Buford wants to have his decision made this month, but first the three-star will make visits to each of his top four schools.

"I am probably going to go see Minnesota, Bowling Green, Toledo and Western Michigan," Buford reported. "Minnesota on the 19th is the only one I have officially scheduled right now. I am probably going to set something up by the end of the week with the other schools.

"Those will be the final four I'll decide from. It's definitely going to be at the end of July, but I don't have an exact date yet."

Minnesota makes the list and receives a July visit even though they are not one of the eight schools that have offered Buford a scholarship.

"They are talking about offering when I go down there, but you can't put all your eggs in a basket with that. I've been talking to Coach (Rob) Reeves and Coach (Jay) Sawvel. They say they're sold on me, they just have to go through the chain of command with the head coach."

The 6-foot, 190-pound Buford is a two-way athlete, but Minnesota likes him at the defensive back position. He is interested in the program from what he has seen thus far, and is excited to hear back on whether the Golden Gophers will offer.

"That's pretty much the only question I'm looking to get answered when I get there," he said. "I am probably going to just check out the campus and see how I like the coaches."

Bowling Green, Toledo and Western Michigan have each already hosted Buford on-campus, but he plans to return for one more look at each school before deciding.

"At Bowling Green I like their winning tradition. They are a lesser-known school, but they win a lot so if I go there I could probably take them to the next level," Buford said. "With Toledo it is the same thing - they just need someone to take them to the next step. Western is an up-and-coming school. I like the coach, he is very energetic and I love what they are doing over there."

Buford is ranked as the No. 43 athlete prospect in the 2015 class and the No. 11 player in the state of Michigan.