Byers preparing to trim his list

Loveland, Colo. offensive lineman Jeff Byers has been a busy traveler this spring and summer and he is readying himself for his last unofficial visit.

"I've been on the go quite a bit," the 6-foot-4, 270-pound Byers said. "I just got back from a swing where I looked at Ohio State, Michigan and Notre Dame. I'm getting ready to go look at Iowa later this week."

Byers, the No. 15 rated player on The Rivals100, will have taken in 13 schools this summer and appears ready to begin to narrow his list down when he completes his trip to Iowa City.

"When I get back from Iowa I am planning on starting the process of trimming my list some," he said. "I don't want to close any doors yet. I want to sit back and go over what all I have seen while I was on my visits. I want to look at the positives and negatives of each place and try and determine which ones would be the better schools for me to look at further."

The 13 schools on the Byers tour included Oklahoma, Texas, Colorado, Colorado State, Wyoming, Ohio State, Michigan, Notre Dame, USC, UCLA, Stanford, Nebraska and Iowa.

"I've had a good time at every school," he said. "It has been a lot of fun. I've gotten to speak to coaches at all of the schools and visit with players and get some kind of a feel for the way the program is at each of those schools."

Byers is the top rated offensive lineman in the country by Rivals.com this year after earning all-conference, all-area and second team all-state honors for his play as a junior.

While the list will begin to be narrowed down after his trip to Iowa, no timetable has been set for making a final decision.

"I would like to take all five official visits this fall before deciding," he said. "But, if a team really jumps out at me and I know it is the place for me, I'll go ahead and get it over with and commit. That isn't a problem for me."